


No buts, just beauty

by flower_girl



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe-Wolf, M/M, Romance, slow burn???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-03-03 04:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 39,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13333821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flower_girl/pseuds/flower_girl
Summary: Prompt #117Summary: Kyungsoo's always been told that he's ugly. Jongin takes the time to convince him otherwise.Warnings: Bullying, Implied mpreg





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> To OP, I really hope I did your prompt justice! Also thank you to R for catching my commas and to all the mods who have been wonderful!

If there were three terms describe Do Kyungsoo it would be eighteen, omega, and ugly. Eighteen was his age, fresh out of youth and ready to ripen into adulthood. Omega was his status, and really all it meant that was that he could carry babies and was most physically attracted to alphas. Ugly was the term that defined him the most though, two long raised scars running from the top of his left eyelid diagonally and ending right in the middle of his cheek. Ugly was the term that outranked all the other terms because omegas were supposed to be beautiful and Kyungsoo wasn’t, not with that thing scarring his small face.

He wasn’t always ugly though. In fact, when he was a baby his parents showed him off quite a bit, coddling him at official events and passing him around like a doll just so everyone could see how beautiful their youngest son was even in infancy. His brother Seungsoo was the precious, coveted alpha but it was Kyungsoo’s photos that were displayed in their father’s office and wallet. He was a protected child, never allowed to play in the dirt or run around outside in case he got hurt or scratched up his porcelain skin. He only slept on the finest mattresses with the softest blankets and all his soaps and lotions were made from pure, organic ingredients. There was an eye or a hand near him at all times to make sure he was safe and happy so it was quite the shock when his rogue uncle broke into his nursery when he was three years old.

The Do clan was rather prestigious in their nation; their pure blood line going back to the origins of creation. They were one of the most traditional wolf families and still ran their packs by the classic rules and regulations. They were also one of the wolf clans that still prospered in the more rustic south, living in sprawling mansions with acres of lands and holding monopolies on natural resources. Other wolf clans had started migrating north to live in the bustling cities and integrate with humans more. Kyungsoo’s father was the head of his pack and one of the leaders of the clan. His father had an older brother who had recently been exiled from the clan for an alcohol addiction. A month had gone by with no news or activity from the shunned family member until one night he broke into the house and got into Kyungsoo’s room. He had held the three-year-old loosely by the throat and Kyungsoo’s scared cry at the sight of the half crazed man had been enough to alert his sleeping father that something had not been right. He had burst into the nursery ready to kill whoever was harming his child but it had been too late. His brother had already taken two claws and tore them down Kyungsoo’s eye and face, blood gushing out and staining his pale skin and white silk pajamas. The painful cries and shrieks that Kyungsoo had let out would haunt the mansion forever, like they were their own ghosts seeking revenge. Sometimes when the house was very still the maids claimed that they could still hear the three-year-old’s screams. The uncle had dropped Kyungsoo then and escaped through the window never to be seen again. Kyungsoo’s father had ran to him and held him in his arms but the beautiful son he had known was barely recognizable, covered in blood and tears, kicking, squirming, and screaming.

A few days after the incident, the red scar of the two scratches ran down little Kyungsoo’s face, swollen and tender. Anyone who looked at his face could feel his pain and the brightness of Kyungsoo had started to dim. He was only comforted by the safety of his mother’s embrace and the sight of any old man would scare him enough into crying and screaming fits. He had constant nightmares and began to wet his bed even though he was potty trained. He didn’t play with his roomful of toys anymore, only wanting to be held and squeezing his plush bear in his hands.

Since the unfortunate situation he was still coddled and spoiled, maybe even more because the household pitied him for his traumatic experience. His grandparents would coo over him and baby him, bringing him treats and presents each time they visited. Kyungsoo was allowed to be mean to Seungsoo but Seungsoo could never lift a finger at his younger brother or he would face severe punishment from their father. The maids would sneak him extra snacks and he was allowed to do whatever he wanted including jumping on their antique couches and even coloring on the walls. The scar didn’t fade but instead grew even worse, healing in an uneven bump across his face and the redness turning into a dull purple. He noticed that his parents didn’t look at him anymore, not even when they played with him or rocked him to sleep. He didn’t mind though because as long as they still held him he was happy.

Everything changed when he started formal schooling. Two years had passed since he had been attacked but Kyungsoo had gotten used to his scar. It didn’t hurt anymore and he didn’t even notice it when he looked in the mirror. It had just become a part of who he was. The other children didn’t seem to think so though and Kyungsoo learned that the hard way. On the first day of school everyone stared at him funny when he introduced himself and he thought that it might have been because of his last name Do. It was a very famous last name and Kyungsoo had overheard his father saying that many people’s knees buckled when they heard it. But then his tablemates didn’t pass him the crayons when he asked nicely and he was chosen last for teams when they were playing kickball. He was worried but a part of him hoped that the second day would go a little better. Except that it didn’t. Kyungsoo had approached another omega boy with fair skin and beautiful, soft blonde hair. He had asked if they could play in the sand box together but all he had gotten in response was a handful of sand in his eyes. He tried his best not to cry as he rubbed the tiny grains off of his face but a small circle had already started to form around him.

“Eew look at him cry,” another omega girl had jeered, pointing at him like he was a circus animal.

“Isn’t he supposed to be an omega?” someone else had asked. “He doesn’t look like an omega. My papa is an omega and he doesn’t look anything like that.”

“Omegas are supposed to be pretty!” Another girl had added. “He isn’t pretty.”

“He’s ugly,” an alpha boy spoke up, erupting in giggles. “That scar on him is really ugly.” The other kids around him chanted ugly over and over again mixed in with laughter and other mean things and Kyungsoo kept on rubbing at his eyes as he broke through the crowd and went to the bathroom to rinse out his eyes. When he looked up into the mirror his big eyes were watery and rimmed red but that wasn’t what he saw. The only thing he saw was the big, purple scar running across his eye and cheek and it was ugly. He was ugly.

He never told his parents about what happened during school. Whenever they asked him about his day at school he would just recite what he had learned, never mentioning any of the other children. During parent’s day, Kyungsoo’s mother tagged along with him to school. He was hoping that the presence of his mother would mean the other children wouldn’t tease him that day or say mean things about his face but instead the other parents were talking about him too.

“The poor mother,” he overheard another kid’s mom say to a group of parents. “She’s stuck with an ugly omega child like that. The Do’s are so famous too. It’s a shame they have someone like that in their family.”

“It’s going to be hard for them to marry him off,” someone else agreed. “No decent alpha is gonna be interested in a wrecked face. His parents are going to have to live the rest of their lives looking at that unfortunate face. I feel bad for them.”

“At least they have an alpha son that will do something for the family,” someone else pointed out. Kyungsoo looked up at his mother, who was staring straight ahead blankly. He knew she had overheard them too. Her grip on his tiny hand was super tight, to the point where it was shaking but she didn’t say anything. As they walked back to the car after the day ended, her hold on him loosened and loosened until she wasn’t holding his hand at all and he was trailing three and then four steps behind her quickening pace. She never came to another one of his parent’s days and she never held him again either.

Kyungsoo had to grow up quicker than most other wolf children. After that unfortunate parent’s day where he had embarrassed his mother and his entire clan, the attention he received at home dwindled a lot and he was left alone quite a bit. His father didn’t play with him anymore, choosing to go out on runs with Seungsoo during his free time instead. He would be lucky if he could even catch a glimpse of his mother who spent all her time now at tea parties and social gatherings. He stopped eating meals with them at the table because his mother had burst into tears once and the next day his father requested that all his meals be sent to his room. Seungsoo wasn’t even allowed to associate with him at school because they didn’t want his reputation to be ruined by his little brother. Within a few months they had become strangers. Not even greeting each other in the halls at home. By the time he was six, Kyungsoo knew what it felt like to be forgotten, to be completely and utterly alone.

He had tried to run away from home when he was seven, because if no one at home could appreciate him he would appreciate himself in the woods. Maybe even a friendly family of bears would adopt him like how they adopted the main character in his favorite book. Late into the night, when he was sure that everyone was asleep, he had shifted into his chocolate brown wolf, something that was completely forbidden in the house because of all the shedding issues and the fragile vases and antique art kept around. Then he had slowly padded his way out of the mansion through the small doggy flap they had in their front door. He was still tiny enough to squeeze through and then he was off in a sprint towards the woods near their house that lead up into the mountains. He had gotten a good three miles into his journey when there was a sudden thunderous growl behind him and a set of teeth sunk into the scruff of his neck not so gently. Kyungsoo had whimpered because he would recognize the scent of his father anywhere and he was carried like a limp pup all the way back to the house. His father was angry. He could tell because the canines in his neck had pierced his skin and there was blood running down his fur but his father didn’t loosen his grip or stop to clean up the blood. He had been set down on his bed and he stayed in his wolf form, curling up into a little ball as a defense mechanism. He could smell his father shifting back into his human form and then he heard his mother bursting through the room. She took one look at him and the small amount of red leaking out of his neck before she went berserk.

“Are you crazy?” she had yelled at Kyungsoo’s father, tears streaming down her face and pushing his shoulders roughly before hitting his chest. “His face is already scarred and you thought it was a good idea to go for his neck too? No one is ever going to claim him if there’s a scar on his neck! His neck can’t be ugly too!”

There it was again, that word ugly. Kyungsoo had heard it so many times by now it might as well be his new name but it was the first time he heard it directly from his mother. Luckily for her, the teeth marks in his neck didn’t leave any type of scarring and his skin had healed back, smooth and pale like normal. From that day on though Kyungsoo had become completely withdrawn and quiet. He had made up his mind. One day he was really going to get out of here and once he did, he was never coming back. Maybe he would finally disappear for good too.

 

 

-

 

 

The train ride was smooth as Kyungsoo stared out the big glass window, watching as trees and rivers slowly turned into busy roads and buildings. He had never seen a skyscraper before but there were so many here in the capital. It was his first year of university and he had chosen to attend the big one in Seoul. He had worked his ass off back down in the south to get good grades so that he would be accepted and his parents were more than ready to send him far away. He would be the first of the Do’s to ever pursue anything in the North. It had been looked down upon before, the clan preferring to send their children to a private, prestigious southern universities instead but when he had brought up the option to his parents they had agreed so fast on letting him go. They couldn’t wait to get rid of him and the burden he carried. Kyungsoo didn’t let that hurt him anymore because it had been his decision. He had wanted to be as far away from that place as possible and he had finally made it.

Kyungsoo chose this university in particular though because it was in the heart of the capital. He had heard many things about Seoul but the most appealing thing was the fact that the city was huge. It contained a population of over nine million people and Kyungsoo would just be one joining them. Back down south, he had met everyone in their small community by the time he was eight and it was rare that new people joined them. Everyone knew everything about everyone else’s business and Kyungsoo could not escape the taunts and ridicules no matter what. The same people were in his class each year and the same jokes and pranks were pulled and he was tired of it. The south was slow paced and close knit and the people down there had nothing better to do than continuously pick on him. The city was a busy place though and Kyungsoo had high hopes that everyone would mind their own business and be too caught up in their own lives to pay attention to him. Back home, he was infamous for being the ugly omega but here he wanted to start a new life where nobody knew who he was or cared about what he looked like.

The train stopped at the last station and Kyungsoo got up to stretch his legs and grab his one suitcase from the overhead bin. His parents had everything else he owned overnighted to his new dorm room and set up for him already. It was the least they could do for him before getting rid of him. He stepped off the train and onto the platform and stood in awe at the hustle and bustle around him. He had read up on city life on the internet for years before he finally came and he had landed in what seemed to be the lunch rush hour. There were people in suits and business wear walking at a brisk place with their phones pressed against their ears. Then there were people dressed casually just making their way through the station and on with their lives. Not a single person stopped to look at Kyungsoo and he liked it, a smile on his face growing at the realization. He had finally become someone invisible.

The station was directly across the street from the entrance of the university so Kyungsoo had an easy time crossing the street and entering through the gates of their open campus. There were signs everywhere for incoming students directing them to which tables to go to pick up room keys or other information and Kyungsoo liked navigating the campus by himself. He could feel the excitement in the air of his fellow classmates but he was still a little cautious to approach any of them, just in case city folks could be just as cruel as the people back home. He approached the assigned table to check in and grab his key and noticed that it was a human sitting there. She was dressed in the school colors, purple and gold, and had gold paint striped across her cheeks and silly school spirit headband on too.

“Welcome to Seoul University!” she greeted him enthusiastically with a genuine smile. “Can I get your name and ID number so we can check you in properly?”

“Do Kyungsoo,” he said slowly so she could hear. Then he recited his student ID number that he had memorized so carefully when he first got his acceptance letter. She searched through the box in front of her and found his papers with a bright smile.

“Here you go!” she chirped as she handed him the folder. “Your key is in the small envelope and you have one free lock out pass! Use it wisely. Your dorm room is just down the road. Take a right at the big tree and keep on walking till you see the building with the red roof. That’s where you’ll be living for the next year! If I’m honest with you, you got one of the better first year dorms. The cafeteria is right behind you guys and the math and liberal arts buildings are in the front. Orientation activities start tomorrow at 9 in the morning and there’s more information about that in your folder. Your roommate will be in the same group as you too so that will be a bit more comfortable.”

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo said as he bowed his head politely.

“Have a great year Kyungsoo!” she told him as she bowed back. “You’ll love it here. I promise.” Kyungsoo nodded at her again before leaving to find his new home. He hoped that she was right. He wanted to love it here so badly.

Finding his dorm building wasn’t that hard after listening to the human girl’s instructions. He punched in his ID number and was granted access to the building. The student sitting at the front desk was also a human and greeted him with a smile before asking if he needed help with moving anything else in. He shook his head no and went to go find his new room. He was supposed to be living on the fourth floor and when he unlocked his door he was surprised to see that both beds were completely made. The bed on the right near the window was covered with his familiar blue blanket and pillow and he could see that his stuff had all been put away nicely by whoever his parents had sent. The bed on the left was also made, the blankets a forest green color but there was a mountain of clothes left on it and an empty suitcase lying on the floor. There were also several half full boxes scattered throughout their room and sitting on both desks and Kyungsoo thought that his roommate had run away half way through unpacking. He set his final suitcase near his bed and went to go check out their bathroom. His organic soaps were all set up in the shower and his lotion was tucked away on the bathroom shelf. He went back and sat on his bed, the mattress topped with memory foam but still not as comfy as his bed back at home.

Kyungsoo looked at the door and wondered where his roommate was and when he was coming back. He was a bit nervous that the other male might be a wolf, maybe even an alpha. He could be mean like the wolves back at home. Or he could just not care about Kyungsoo and ignore him like Seungsoo had done for most of their lives. Kyungsoo would definitely prefer the latter option. He felt a sudden fatigue wash over him. It had been a rather exhausting day from the long train ride to actually having a positive interaction with someone for the first time in a long time. He felt his eyes flutter close and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

When Kyungsoo woke up there was the scent of another person in the room, a human. He bolted out of bed and fixed his messy hair as he scanned the room for his roommate and his eyes fell on a tall, skinny boy with blonde hair. The human had just finished showering and was sitting on his bed, toweling off his wet hair. His face looked blank until he made eye contact with Kyungsoo and his eyes expressed some type of acknowledgement. Kyungsoo unconsciously folded into himself because he was worried about his scar being an issue. Meeting new people had always been nerve-wracking because he didn’t know what they were going to think about his face. At least back at home, everyone was used to it and he knew to anticipate the mean taunts.

“Sehun,” his roommate introduced himself with a nod as he tossed his towel onto a pile of clothes on the floor. “Oh Sehun.” Kyungsoo could feel eyes trace over his scar but it wasn’t malicious, just curious.

“Kyungsoo,” he said back quietly with a nod too. “Do Kyungsoo.”

“Nice to meet you roomie,” Sehun told him, a small smile on his face. Kyungsoo felt his chest deflate in relief at the human’s friendliness. At least one person on this campus didn’t hate him yet.

Over the course of orientation week, Kyungsoo found himself sticking to Sehun’s side. The human never directly asked about Kyungsoo’s scar and glared at anyone who stared at him too long. He discovered that Sehun was an accounting major and that home for him was just a ten-minute subway ride away. The human was also very comfortable with living with a wolf because he had wolf friends back in high school and his brother was actually engaged to a female beta wolf. Like Kyungsoo, Sehun was also more on the quiet side but he made friends quickly with his wit and Kyungsoo found himself included in this human friend group too.

“You should check this out,” Sehun pointed at a flier hanging on a bulletin board in front of their shared anthropology class. First day of classes started tomorrow and they were going around trying to find all their classrooms. It had a navy blue background filled with gold stars and a silver moon. A single black wolf silhouette was howling up at the moon. The image was accompanied by the text _Run of the Wolves! Discover your university pack tomorrow during the first full moon of the school year!_

“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo said, looking at the flier with muted interest. Would he even be able to find a temporary pack that would accept his ugly face when not even his family could handle it? He had been avoiding the other wolves on campus so far, afraid of what he would find if he interacted with them.

“It might be cool to make other wolf friends,” Sehun told him. “I don’t want to bore you too much with my human ways,” he joked.

“I wish you could come with me,” Kyungsoo sighed. He hadn’t been able to do anything by himself yet, always tagging along with Sehun.

“Me too,” Sehun nodded, “but I’d get kicked out so fast. I heard that they’re pretty strict with their pack rules here. It’s even more intense than rushing for Greek life.”

“I guess I’ll see how I feel tomorrow then,” Kyungsoo said. He didn’t think he would actually go but maybe the rest of the day and night would build up his courage more. City wolves had to be more tolerable than country wolves. They’ve lived peacefully with humans for all these years already.

“If they don’t want you, you can join my human pack,” Sehun told him with a laugh. “We’ll take good care of you!”

Come the next day, Kyungsoo couldn’t believe he was actually standing in the quad of campus with a bunch of other freshmen wolves waiting for the run to begin. The scent of excited omegas, alphas, and betas filled the air and there was an energy that he wasn’t used to. Kyungsoo was standing towards the back of the crowd, waiting for further instructions on the first run. From what he understood so far, the already established packs would be leading different directions and he just had to follow one and see if their energies synched. If they didn’t, he would have to try again during the next run. He was nervous as others around him mingled and talked about which packs they were going to try for this time. He just had to lay low until they shifted. His scar was a lot less visible when he was a wolf. Someone bumped into him and he moved back to avoid tripping.

“Oh sorry,” the omega said, steadying his arm. “I’m a klutz.”

“It’s okay,” Kyungsoo mumbled, looking down to avoid eye contact with the gorgeous brunette omega. He was too late though and a glimpse of his scar in the darkness was caught.

“Oh my god what happened to your face?” the omega announced, her tone high with shock. “What are you doing here?” Kyungsoo didn’t know what to answer. He was here because he wanted to find a university pack just like everyone else. He was here because for once in his life he wanted to fit in with the other wolves and just feel fucking normal.

“Who are you talking to?” another omega entered their conversation, butting her head in and looking at Kyungsoo. She let out a laugh when saw him and shook her head. “Wow what happened to you?” Kyungsoo felt his face burn with shame. They just couldn’t overlook his scar could they?

“Who’s this?” an alpha turned Kyungsoo’s shoulder to get a look at him. A small crowd was starting to form around Kyungsoo and he felt like he was five again; weak, alone, and afraid.

“Dang look at that thing!” Someone else said referencing the scar.

“It’s _so_ long.”

“Yikes that must have hurt.”

“He’s an omega right? What a shame.”

“It’s fucking ugly!” There it was again. That word ugly. Kyungsoo turned on his heels and pushed his way out of the crowd of wolves. He wasn’t going to go through this again. He had left home to get away from this treatment.

“Look at him leave,” someone laughed. “Can’t believe he thought he was gonna find a pack with that face.”

“That’s a face only a mother could love.” Kyungsoo wanted to cry at those words because if only they knew. It was a face that not even a mother could love.

He walked faster out of the quad before breaking into a run back to his dorm building and skipping the elevator to rush up the stairs to his room. Sehun was lying in bed, browsing on his laptop when the door slammed and he jumped.

“Kyungsoo?” he asked, worried about his roommate who stood motionlessly with red, wet eyes. The omega just shook his head, letting the human know that things hadn’t worked out. Sehun’s lips pulled into a thin line with disappointment in his eyes and he shook his head back. He grabbed Kyungsoo’s arm and pulled him in for a hug.

“You’re in my pack now,” the human declared, no room for argument. Kyungsoo nodded as he cried into Sehun’s arms. He hadn’t been allowed on any runs back home anyways so he wouldn’t be missing much by not joining a university pack. Wolves were cruel no matter where they came from and he really had no place in their world.

 

 

-

 

 

If there were three terms to describe Kim Jongin they would be eighteen, alpha, and handsome. He was eighteen years old, ready to move out of the gated community he had always called home and alpha was his status meaning he was at the very tip of the top. Jongin was known to be one of the handsomest alphas around too with his tall height and chiseled features. The young alpha wasn’t always considered good looking though. His older sisters told him he was born a wrinkly, screaming mess and as the youngest, spoiled son he had been quite bratty as a child. Scissors and blades had scared him to no end when he was young and he had refused to get a haircut for until he was almost six years old, hair growing down his ears and to the nape of his neck. His sisters called him ‘the beast’ and it wasn’t until he had gotten teased by another alpha in his first grade class that he grabbed the cook’s kitchen scissors and chopped out a lock of thick white-blonde hair himself. Since then, he had always kept his hair neat and tidy, allowing his handsome features to stand out even more.

The Kim clan was rather famous in the city. Jongin’s great-great grandpa was the first wolf to move his family out of the countryside and into the fast paced life of humans. It had been a risky move, to leave the comfort of nature and replace it with buildings and concrete but he had been successful and now Jongin’s family ran one of the biggest electronics company in all of Asia. Prior to their urban success though, the Kim line had also been quite famous for their looks. All of the purebred Kim offspring had beautiful variations of lush white-blonde hair and ice blue eyes. Jongin’s white hair had some natural lowlights in it, making it almost gray if the lighting hit it right and his blue eyes also had a silver grey tone to them. In order to keep their signature features, members of the Kim Clan were only allowed to mate with other wolves who were purebred and they were often hand chosen by their parents. His cousin Minseok was engaged to borderline royal Chinese omega Luhan and Joonmyun was married to Kim Jongdae, the son of two high profile wolf politicians. Jongin’s parents were still scouting for potential mates for him.

It was his first day of university and he had been all moved into his on-campus apartment. He had lucked out, or his parents had managed to pull some strings, and he snagged an upperclassman apartment where he had his own room and bathroom and just shared a common space and kitchen with one other person. Most freshmen were stuck in traditional dorms where they shared one bedroom with a roommate and a community bathroom with eleven other people. Jongin had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth and although he considered himself humble, he was not a fan of the community bathroom life.

Due to his family background, Jongin already gained a pretty high status in the university hierarchy. He’d been recruited into the most exclusive university pack even without an initial run and he’s familiar with some of the upperclassmen in this pack too. Chanyeol was two years older than him, and an old family friend. The Parks had been one of the original clans to follow Jongin’s ancestors to the cities too and they had stuck with each other through all the struggles and hardships. There were rumors about Chanyeol being a potential mate for one of Jongin’s sisters and the alpha wouldn’t mind if Chanyeol became a brother to him. Then there was also Bae Joohyun, the most popular female omega in the entire city. Her clan had been relatively new in the cities, Joohyun being the first generation to finish schooling there but their prestige as an old clan had catapulted them up in the ranks too and she was sought out quite a bit as a mate. Jongin’s parents had told him that she was not for him though so he saw her just as an older sister.

His roommate was a human, Byun Baekhyun. The sophomore was a classical music major and although Jongin had already been here for two days, they hadn’t interacted much yet. He had a sinking feeling that Baekhyun maybe didn’t like wolves based on the judgmental glares he received from the tiny human sometimes. Jongin himself was a business major, in line to take the company from his father after he graduated and gained a few years of experience.

Despite being a business major, he was required to take some general classes too which was why he was walking into an eight am history lecture on the first official day of classes. Introduction to American History did not seem to be an incredibly popular class due to its unsightly time slot and it was just an unpopular subject in general. Everyone else had taken the noon Korean History class and Jongin had the misconception that he wasn’t going to be taking history until second semester so he hadn’t bothered signing up for it. A quick chat with his advisor revealed that he wouldn’t have time during second semester to fit in the elective so here he was surrounded with a bunch of other tired, grumpy students. The small lecture hall was only half way full and Jongin spotted another wolf on one of the upper rows of the seats. It was an unspoken agreement for wolves of all packs to stick together so Jongin headed up to the other guy and sat down. He noted that the other wolf was a beta, probably older than him though.

“Jongin,” he introduced himself with a hand out.

“Jonghyun,” the beta shook his hand. As time neared for the class to start, more humans filled the lecture hall and Jongin was surprised that there weren’t any other wolves in this class. Just as it looked like it would be just him and Jonghyun, the door swung open and a tantalizing sweet scent entered the room. Jongin stopped tapping his pencil against his notebook and whipped his head towards the door to see a small omega shuffle in, backpack slung over one shoulder as he paused and looked around the lecture hall. The omega had short, jet black hair and pale-moon kissed skin. Jongin felt himself emit some alpha pheromones to let the other wolf know that he was up there. He watched as the omega sniffed the air and then looked up to see Jongin and the beta sitting there. From his angle, Jongin could only see the right side of the omega’s face but he couldn’t miss the immediate scowl that the omega had. The smaller wolf turned his head and a few humans waved him over and he shuffled over to them on one of the front rows, setting his stuff down and not once looking back at Jongin and the other beta.

“What’s his problem?” Jongin huffed as the professor entered the lecture hall and pulled up a presentation.

“Kyungsoo is a special one,” Jonghyun told him. The beta was a sophomore and Jongin found out that he ran for a different pack. “He likes humans more than he likes wolves.”

“Kyungsoo,” Jongin repeated his name, eyes focusing on the tiny figure in the front row, hunched over and copying the notes. Even with all the humans surrounding the omega, Jongin could still smell that sweet scent.

 

 

-

 

 

“What do you know about a Kyungsoo?” Jongin asked Chanyeol as they hung out in the pack clubroom. He was sitting on the couch and tossing one of Chanyeol’s beanbags into the air before catching it and throwing it up again. Chanyeol was getting the clubroom set up, hooking a mini basketball hoop over the door while others were setting up posters and snacks and other fun things to keep the pack occupied during their breaks.

“Kyungsoo?” Chanyeol asked turning around to look at Jongin. “You mean Do Kyungsoo?”

“I guess?” Jongin answered, letting the beanbag fall to the floor. “He’s an omega. Saw him in my history class and he didn’t sit with me and another beta. I just thought it was odd. Wolves always stick together.”

“Kyungsoo isn’t just any wolf,” Minho, another alpha in their pack said. He sat next to Jongin and grabbed a handful of pretzel sticks out of the bowl. “He’s an ugly wolf.”

“Ugly?” Jongin asked, confused. He only saw half of the omega’s face but Kyungsoo didn’t look ugly to him. In fact, Jongin had been quite interested in the wide eye and plump lips he had caught a glimpse of. Kyungsoo looked so small too in the front row and Jongin’s protective alpha urge had made him want to press up against him and shield him from the world.

“He’s got this scar running across the left side of his face. It goes down his eye and cheeks and it looks damn awful,” Minho answered. “It’s not pretty looking at all, especially for an omega. He isn’t ever going to find a mate like that. The guy likes hanging out with humans more too. He tried running for a pack last year but chickened out.”

“He’s a sophomore?” Jongin asked, not sure why he was so curious about this omega.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol answered. “Computer science major I believe. At least that’s what I last heard.”

“Total loser,” Minho said, a pretzel sticking out of his mouth like a cigarette. “Like you think he would try to be cool to make up for his ugliness but all he does is stick around his wimpy human friends. He doesn’t give any other wolf the time of day.”

“Oh,” Jongin said simply, taking in the information. So it seemed like Kyungsoo had a vendetta against wolves in general and not just him.

“Just don’t waste your time on him,” Chanyeol told him with a wave of his hand. “Besides his scar, Kyungsoo is pretty forgettable. He blends in just like another human.” Jongin nodded at the older alpha, grabbing some pretzels to snack on too. He wouldn’t worry about Kyungsoo at all.

No matter how hard Jongin tried not to think about Kyungsoo, he couldn’t help it when the omega seemed to be all the other wolves talked about. Every time conversation died in their pack, someone would bring up their sighting of Kyungsoo and they would all pitch in on how ugly and pathetic the omega was and how glad they were that they weren’t in his position. Jongin never contributed to these petty discussions because first of all, he had never even seen the omega’s full face in order to judge it, and secondly because he felt uncomfortable with how easily his pack mates could just tear someone down. The same points were rehashed over and over again and Jongin began to wonder what exactly Do Kyungsoo had done to these wolves to make them so obsessed over him. If they didn’t like the omega they could just stay away and keep his name out of their mouths but the pack seemed to gain unity from their continuous ribbing of the omega.

Ever since that first day of history class, Kyungsoo had always arrived to the lecture hall before Jongin did and he sat in the front so Jongin never got a good look at his face. Whenever he stumbled into the eight a.m. class with tired eyes and a hazy mind, the scent of the mysterious omega would instantly wake him up and he would track that small dark head of hair surrounded by humans before making his way up the stairs to sit next to Jonghyun.

The alpha’s college life was going pretty typically. He went to his classes, studied when it was necessary and partied on the weekends if he were up to it. It was common for wolves to hook up at parties but Jongin kept his mind straight and stuck to drinking and chatting with his packmates instead. His mother would never forgive him if she found out he had slept with someone who wasn’t his mate and honestly he didn’t feel up to that either. He saw the magic that Minseok and Joonmyun had with their mates and he wanted that too.

Jongin usually took his lunch breaks in the cafeteria with his pack, sitting next to Chanyeol who also had a free period. Jongin couldn’t cook at all so he relied on cafeteria food, leftover takeout, or stuff that Joohyun would bring for the entire pack. Other than their unnecessary talk about Kyungsoo, Jongin did like his pack a lot. They were fun to be around and were always reassuring him that he could talk to them about anything. They were like his big brothers and sisters away from home. Maybe even better than his real sisters because at least they didn’t tease him and remind him of his embarrassing childhood.

As he dunked one of his fries into a mixture of ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard, a familiar whiff of omega floated through the cafeteria and he turned his head to see Kyungsoo standing near the entrance talking to Baekhyun, his roommate. Jongin scrunched his nose up. He wasn’t aware that the two were friends. Chanyeol looked at Jongin before turning in the same direction.

“Oh looks like Kyungsoo made an appearance today,” Chanyeol said out loud. The entire table turned to look in that direction and then the snickers started.

“Look at him hanging out with his human,” a beta laughed condescendingly. “He can only ever make friends with humans. They don’t know any better though.”

“Can you see his face?” someone else asked. “Did his scar get any worse?”

“Nah it’s turned. I can’t see it at all,” another alpha answered. “That’s good though otherwise I’d lose my appetite. God he should stay out of the cafeteria. People are trying to eat here.”

“He’s friends with Baekhyun?” Jongin asked, looking at Chanyeol who was quietly watching the two. Jongin didn’t see Baekhyun much around their apartment. The human was always off doing his own thing

“Yeah,” Chanyeol answered. “They shared a writing class together last year.”

“How do you even know that?” Jongin asked, surprised with the other alpha.

“Word gets around,” Chanyeol answered, cold tone leaving no more room of questions. Jongin nodded, dropping the topic. He looked at Baekhyun and Kyungsoo again. The human was talking animatedly to Kyungsoo, his hands flying everywhere as the omega listened. Another human joined them, tall, blonde and skinny. He hooked his arm around Kyungsoo’s with a laugh and then all three of them left the cafeteria.

“I bet he gets human dick,” an omega laughed as Kyungsoo disappeared. “He’s probably never even seen a knot in his life.” The entire pack laughed at her statement and Jongin pretended to chuckle along.

Midterms passed and Jongin felt like he was surviving quite fine. He called his parents once a week to catch up on things and sometimes if his sisters or cousins were in the area, they would drop by and have a quick lunch with him. The only thing that seemed to change in his life was that he kept track of Baekhyun a lot more than he used too. Whenever the human came home, Jongin could smell Kyungsoo all over him. Sometimes Baekhyun wouldn’t come back to the apartment till early in the morning and it made Jongin wonder if it was Baekhyun’s human dick that Kyungsoo was getting. He still never saw the omega’s face or ran across him on campus but his curiosity was still growing with each time the omega’s name was uttered by a pack member.

 

Jongin officially met Kyungsoo in their history lecture one fall day. Their professor announced a group assignment about the industrial revolution and to all the student’s horror, he had pre-chosen groups for everyone. Jongin waited to listen to who he was with and to his surprise, he and Kyungsoo had been paired with two humans for a group of four. Kyungsoo and the two humans, Kris and Seulgi, were all sitting in the front so he had been the one to move seats to join them to talk about their project. The seat next to Seulgi was free and he sat there, straight across from Kyungsoo. When the omega finally looked up from his notebook though and saw Jongin, the alpha felt his breath hitch.

The first thing he noticed, like everyone else was the scar. It traced over his left eye and carved into his cheek. It must have been a painful incident and Jongin’s heart hurt for the omega. What he saw next though were the most beautiful pair of eyes he had seen in his entire life. They were round, the whites of his eyes looking like warm milk surrounding drops of creamed coffee. Kyungsoo also had the most perfect nose and pink, plump lips Jongin had come across. His jawline was slim but his cheeks were chubby and Jongin didn’t know how someone could look so absolutely perfect. The alpha didn’t know what all the other wolves were drinking to make them blind because Kyungsoo was absolutely gorgeous. He was the most beautiful being Jongin had ever come across. His body temperature spiked and his heart was beating fast as he traced over Kyungsoo’s distinct features again.

“It’s rude to stare,” a deep voice broke his gaze from Kyungsoo. It was the male human Kris who had spoken, glaring at Jongin.

“Sorry,” Jongin diverted his head, looking down instead. He was still feeling overwhelmed from really seeing Kyungsoo for the first time. He had been expecting ugliness but what he got was beauty personified. He hadn’t been prepared for this.

“So what topic do you guys want to choose?” Seulgi asked, taking a break from doodling snails in her notebook.

“Sewing machines,” Kyungsoo was the one to answer. Jongin felt himself get chills at the omega’s warm, smooth voice. Even his voice was beautiful and the alpha was so confused on why anyone would ever call Kyungsoo ugly or pathetic or a loser.

“I read ahead and I’m really interested in how the invention of the sewing machine lead to all those issues with the factory and labor laws,” Kyungsoo continued. “I think it’ll be cool to research.”

“Sounds good to me,” Kris agreed, slapping his hand on top of his textbook.

“I like it too,” Seulgi nodded. “Any other ideas Jongin?”

“That’s fine,” he answered, trying his best to not outright stare at Kyungsoo again even though he badly wanted another glimpse of perfection. The other three began to discuss their schedules and Jongin blankly listened trying to gain a hold of himself and actually contribute to the conversation. He didn’t want his group mates thinking that he was useless.

“Okay since Kyungsoo and I live near each other we can work on this first part,” Seulgi announced as she made some final adjustments to their schedule.

“Jongin, are you okay with meeting with Kris for an hour every Wednesday for the second part?” she turned and asked him.

“Yeah that sounds okay,” Jongin nodded. “Are we ever gonna meet up as a full group?” He looked specifically at Kyungsoo, who was playing with the metal rings of his notebook binding. Would he ever get to work with the omega?

“Weren’t you listening?” Kris asked. “We’re meeting up during lunch if we have a free hour and maybe over the weekends if nothing’s up.”

“Oh,” Jongin nodded his head. He must have tuned that part out. “Sounds good then. I’ll see you on Wednesday then?”

“Library at three,” Kris nodded, still not looking too impressed with the wolf. “Don’t be late.”

“Speaking of late, Kyungsoo, we should head to Professor Choi’s class before Baekhyun loses our seats,” Seulgi glanced down at her watch. “I’ll start a message board and presentation for us later.” In the blink of an eye, Seulgi and Kyungsoo were out of their seats and the lecture hall and Jongin was left alone with Kris. Even though Jongin was an alpha wolf, Kris had a few inches on him and he felt a bit intimidated by the human.

“You and your sissy pack stay away from Kyungsoo,” Kris warned him out of nowhere. Then he got up and left too and Jongin was alone in the lecture hall.

 

Working with Kris was a pain in the ass. With basketball season starting up, Kris didn’t really care about anything else and did the bare minimum to complete their portion of the assignment. He would hand in his research and a few decently constructed summaries and then it was up to Jongin to put everything together and fix all the citations. Jongin had never worked so hard before in his life on an assignment. He and Seulgi were the ones who posted the most in the group message board with an occasional comment from Kris. Kyungsoo was working on the assignment too. Jongin could see his name pop up on their Google Presentation from time to time and looking at the edit history, he could also see that Kyungsoo was contributing a lot to his portion too. The omega just didn’t write anything on the message board.

 

**_Kim Jongin_ **

_Do you think it’s possible for us to meet up this week and go over some of the court cases? I’m getting them mixed up and Kris is too busy to help out much._

****

**_Kang Seulgi_ **

**** _I’m not really free this week. Drama club is starting on production for the fall musical and I’m vp of that. I think Kyungsoo should be down to help you though. He’s done with his part already. I’ll text him and ask._

**_Kang Seulgi_ **

**** _He’s gonna be in the rose lounge every day this week around noon. Hit him up and he’ll help you out._

**_Kim Jongin_ **

**** _Thanks. Will keep you updated on the progress._

Jongin felt anticipation build in him at the thought of having a private research session with Kyungsoo. They didn’t have work time in class so he was stuck in the back again while Kyungsoo remained in the front and the alpha just wanted to see Kyungsoo’s face again. He wanted to know what happened and why. A scar like that didn’t just happen by accident.

 

“You’re being fucking frustrating right now,” Jongin heard Chanyeol talk as he entered the pack clubroom. It was only him and the older alpha, who had his back turned as he talked on the phone.

“I’m the unreasonable one?” Chanyeol asked in disbelief, his voice raising an octave as he ran his hands through his hair. “Fine don’t come over later then. I don’t give a fuck.” Jongin set his backpack down on the couch, making a sound to let Chanyeol know he wasn’t alone anymore. The older alpha turned around and acknowledged Jongin before cursing under his breath and tossing his phone on the table.

“I got fucking hung up on,” Chanyeol groaned as he rubbed his face and sat on a chair.

“Who was it?” Jongin asked. Chanyeol was typically a happy, positive person.

“Someone,” he answered ambiguously, groaning into his hands. Jongin knew not to ask anything else and decided to bring up another topic.

“Kyungsoo is in my group project for history,” he said casually.

“So?” Chanyeol asked, an eyebrow raised in interest.

“I’m gonna meet up with him tomorrow to ask some questions,” Jongin said. “And he’s not ugly. I don’t know why you guys keep on picking on him.”

“Oh Jongin,” Chanyeol let out a sigh as he shook his head. “You’re right that people tend to over exaggerate his scar but he has a reputation now. It’s best for you not to get too involved with him.”

“Why not?” Jongin challenged. “What if I want to get to know him and become his friend?”

“I wouldn’t,” Chanyeol told him. “Wolves talk Jongin, and anything that comes out about their mouths about Kyungsoo isn’t nice. Save yourself the drama. You’re part of the Kim clan. People are just waiting for you to mess up so they can jump and attack.”

“Well people need to mind their own businesses,” Jongin said back. It was true though that all eyes were on him, Minseok, and Joonmyun. Someone had even dared to try and start a rumor that Joonmyun was cheating on Jongdae with a female beta. That had been quickly shut down though after Joonmyun tracked down the origins of the post and sued the person.

“They do need to mind their own business,” Chanyeol agreed, his eyes narrowing just a bit, “but they don’t and we need to think about that.”

“He has no wolf friends,” Jongin said, feeling sad for a moment. Wolves were social creatures and thrived off of pack dynamics. Kyungsoo had none of that.

“He has enough humans to keep him happy,” Chanyeol said. “Did you ever think that maybe he has no wolf friends because he doesn’t want them? Other wolves have tried, Jongin. They really have. Kyungsoo just isn’t interested.”

“He hasn’t met me yet,” Jongin said determinedly. He was a stubborn, strong hearted alpha who didn’t back down. He was going to be Kyungsoo’s friend and he was going let the omega know how beautiful he was.

 

The rose lounge was a tiny little study center connecting the biology and literature department together. It held a few tables, chairs, and computer for studiers and then a couch and a bookshelf full of board games and books for students to use while passing time. There was also a microwave and fridge to heat and store food and a glass wall and a door in the back led to the biology green house that was known for housing the university’s rose garden, hence the name of the lounge. Despite the rose lounge probably being the prettiest lounge on campus, not many people went there because it was out of the way and far from the university’s other main buildings. It would also be Jongin’s first time going there.

The alpha awkwardly peeked his head into the white and yellow lounge and he noticed one person sitting at a table, shoulders crouched over as they read through a thick textbook quietly. Based on the scent that filled the entire room, it was Kyungsoo. Jongin stepped through the doorway and let out a little cough to let him know that he was here. Kyungsoo turned his head up to look and Jongin once again saw deep eyes and a painful scar.

“Seulgi said you could help me with my part of the project,” he explained, trying not to stumble over his words.

“Take a seat then,” Kyungsoo said, pointing at the chair across from him and turning his head back to his book. The omega looked uninterested and Jongin shuffled over to the table and took out his laptop and notes. He pulled up his research and waited patiently for Kyungsoo to give him attention again.

“What do you have questions on?” Kyungsoo asked, putting his textbook away and leaning his body over to look at Jongin’s screen. Jongin turned the laptop so it was easier for the omega. From the angle of Kyungsoo’s head and their proximity, he could see the scar clearly and he mentally winced in pain. Jongin knew scars; he had a few tiny ones from when he roughhoused a bit too much with Minseok, and Kyungsoo’s looked bad but they were fully healed. Marring smooth skin were two raised, skin toned bumps running down his left eye. The scar tissue was what made it heal with a slight bump and even though the scars were mostly neutral colored now, Jongin could still see some faint purples and reds dusting the surface. It didn’t make Kyungsoo ugly though. Jongin didn’t think anything could ever hide how cute Kyungsoo was.

“If you’re just here to stare at me and make fun of my face you can leave,” Kyungsoo’s upset voice cut into Jongin’s thoughts. The alpha shook his head quickly, a bright red settling onto his face. He didn’t mean to stare again, and he was staring out of appreciation not out of disgust. Explaining that to the omega would be strange though and wow he messed up bad again.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

“Whatever,” Kyungsoo dismissed curtly. “I’ll just explain these quickly to you and then I have to go.”

“Okay,” Jongin nodded, taking out a pen and paper to take quick notes while Kyungsoo talked. It took about half an hour for them to get through three court cases and Jongin still had two more that he didn’t quite understand. Kyungsoo kept on glancing at the time though and as much as Jongin wanted to keep on hearing the omega’s voice and watch him scribble notes on Jongin’s paper too, he knew he had to let Kyungsoo go.

“If you’re busy we can meet up another time to go over the rest of it,” Jongin told him, watching as Kyungsoo clicked on another link that lead to some more resources.

“I do have to get going,” Kyungsoo looked at the clock on the screen one last time. “I’ll be here tomorrow again. Drop by if you can’t figure the rest of it out.”

“I’ll be here,” Jongin promised.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo mumbled as he gathered his stuff and put it into his backpack.

“See you then!” Jongin called out as Kyungsoo exited through the biology doors. There was no reply but the alpha felt strangely happy. He had a reason to see Kyungsoo again.

 

The next day, Kyungsoo was in the same spot in the rose lounge, alone again. Jongin slid into the seat across from him and the omega looked up with wide, surprised eyes.

“I’m ready to start again,” Jongin told him, a grin on his face. He was going to make a good impression on Kyungsoo today. Last night, he had gone over the remaining court cases and tried his best to understand them. Today he was just going to confirm his findings with Kyungsoo and hopefully get help with adding things to their presentation.

“You actually came,” Kyungsoo said, setting his pencil down.

“I told you I would be here,” Jongin nodded as he opened up his laptop again. He already had the presentation pulled up and an outline of the bullet points he wanted to add.

“Let’s start then,” Kyungsoo leaned closer towards Jongin again.

Their session took forty-five minutes this time, Kyungsoo helping Jongin format the presentation and explaining the rest of the group’s parts to Jongin too. The alpha noticed that Kyungsoo was very detail oriented, making sure that text boxes lined up and that everything looked aesthetically pleasing. He double-checked all the slides, searching for grammar and spelling errors that spellcheck might have missed. Jongin became fascinated with the way Kyungsoo’s lips would purse when he thought in concentration and how his fingers tapped across Jongin’s keyboard swiftly as he raced to get an idea down. By the time they finished, Jongin felt as if he could do the entire presentation by himself backwards. He stretched his arms up and let out a satisfied groan as Kyungsoo saved the presentation and sent a _complete_ text to Seulgi and Kris.

“You did okay for your first time preparing a college presentation,” Kyungsoo complimented him as the omega began to pack his stuff.

“I had really great help,” Jongin smiled at him, also slipping his stuff into his backpack. “Kris actually wasn’t much help but at least he did do his parts.”

“Hopefully he won’t mess up during the actual presentation,” Kyungsoo smiled back. Jongin felt his heart stop for a quick moment before melting into a warm puddle of gold. Kyungsoo had a fucking heart shaped smile. His pretty lips actually formed into a pink heart when he smiled.

“Hopefully _you_ won’t mess up during the presentation,” Kyungsoo teased the alpha this time, nervousness replacing the calm in his eyes.

“I won’t,” Jongin nodded, swallowing his saliva down as he stared at Kyungsoo’s mouth. He wanted to see that smile again.

“W-would you…” Kyungsoo began, voice trailing off as he took his eyes off of Jongin’s and stared at the alpha’s feet instead. “Would you like to go get some dinner with me tonight?”

Jongin felt his chest swell with a sudden flood of emotion as his heart squeezed and his stomach flipped. Kyungsoo was asking him out to dinner. Kyungsoo was asking him out on a maybe-date.

Just as he was about to say yes, the vibration of his phone in his pocket quickly shattered his happiness. It was a full moon tonight and he had volunteered to lead the pack on their run. He couldn’t back out.

The alpha’s mouth ran dry as his hands began to sweat and Kyungsoo looked up after there was no answer. There was still that nervousness in his eyes, accompanied by something that looked almost like fear.

“I can’t,” Jongin forced the heavy words to come out of his mouth regretfully. “I’m leading the pack tonight.”

The vulnerability in Kyungsoo’s eyes was hardened within a second. His soft face turning blank as he slipped the straps of his backpack over his shoulders silently.

“Okay,” he said tonelessly as he made a move to leave. Jongin wanted to stop him. He wanted to say fuck the pack and go on that dinner date with Kyungsoo.

“I’ll see you in class then?” He said instead, hoping that this wasn’t the end of their encounters. He had enjoyed spending time with Kyungsoo even though they were only studying and the omega was still so very reserved. He didn’t want this to be their last chance.

“Sure,” Kyungsoo mumbled aimlessly as he left the lounge. The door clicked softly shut and Jongin was alone in the rose lounge, feeling like the world’s biggest idiot for letting Kyungsoo walk away just like that.

 

“You smell like omega,” Minho said as they gathered in the east side of the forest for the run. It was rare to let a freshman lead a run but Jongin had a prestigious background and people trusted him already.

He smelled like Kyungsoo. His sweater and his pencil and his notebook and his laptop had hints of Kyungsoo still although it was a couple of hours after their study session. Jongin liked it, even though it sorely reminded him of the date he had just rejected.

“Is our good boy Jongin finally getting some?” Minho grinned teasingly at him as he stripped out of his shirt and tossed it at the foot of a tree. Jongin stripped too but he folded his shirt nicely and set it on top of his backpack.

“I just met someone,” he said ambiguously, running a hand down his abs to make sure they were still there. He wondered if Kyungsoo cared for abs. Everyone liked them of course but some people didn’t have a strong opinion about them.

“Are you gonna introduce them soon?” Chanyeol asked, joining in on the conversation. He was already down to his boxers, getting ready for Jongin to fully shed his clothes too and shift to start the run. “It’s okay if they’re from a different pack. Crossovers happen all the time.”

“I don’t know,” Jongin shook his head. “I don’t want you guys to scare him away.”

“Oh so it’s a boy,” Chanyeol teasingly smiled at him. “You Alpha Kim’s sure seem to dig the male specimen this generation.”

“Yeah definitely not introducing him anytime soon,” Jongin scoffed jokingly. Even if he wanted to introduce Kyungsoo to the pack, they had to actually become a couple first and Jongin didn’t know how long that was going to take.

“Don’t get too invested though,” Chanyeol reminded. “Your parents have to approve before anything serious happens.” Jongin nodded and shrugged off his jeans, ready to start the run. The moon was sitting high in the sky now and he could smell the tingling energy coming from his pack mates. He wasn’t sure how his parents were going to feel about Kyungsoo- a scarred omega with a negative reputation in society. They probably wouldn’t be too happy if Jongin brought him home for break.

Not wanting to think negatively anymore, Jongin stripped himself of the rest of his clothes and shifted into his wolf, an ice-white creature with his signature blue eyes. He wondered what Kyungsoo’s wolf looked like and just how much smaller the omega would be beside his large form. The sudden aching need to run his muzzle against Kyungsoo’s wolf form and play with him in the forest hit Jongin’s chest and he broke out into a run, the sound of his pack following behind him.

It was his first run in this forest and the dirt underneath his paws and the branches lightly scratching at his skin was exhilarating. There had been no rain throughout the week so the air was sharp and fresh and as he breathed it in, it cleared his mind. He could hear the pack panting behind him but their energies were still up and it motivated him to go faster and farther into the denser woods. The terrain got harder, rocks and boulders beginning to block their path as the trail got steeper. The challenge fueled Jongin as he worked his way up the small forest cliffs they had in the back of the school. Their university was in the dead center of Seoul but some wildlife preserves had been protected for historical and conservational purposes and packs were allowed to use them for their runs.

Once Jongin reached the top of a cliff, overlooking a sea of city lights in the dead of night, he let out a lone howl that was quickly followed by the others. When it silenced, the wolves trailed around the area for a while, play pouncing on each other and resting before the run back to campus. Jongin was laying down at the edge, his jaw resting on his paws. Seoul was so pretty at night with a million lights shimmering up at him. He had the energy of the stars and moon above him and the warmth of the city below him and he wondered what it would feel like to have both next to him in the form of an omega named Kyungsoo. The omega had probably never been on a run before like this. Jongin wanted to take him some day, to show him the magic that he felt in his heart.

He was a sweaty mess after they ended back on campus. Everyone was winded and their appetites were starving but Jongin wasn’t in the mood to tag along with them to the twenty-four-hour waffle house across the street. It would only remind him of his could-be dinner date with Kyungsoo. Instead he slipped back on his boxers and jeans and walked back to the apartments. He had half a pizza left in his fridge and that would be enough to kill his hunger for the night.

It was just a little after midnight when he unlocked the apartment door and walked in, a familiar voice trailed in the background along with Baekhyun’s obnoxious laugh and he slipped off his shoes before walking to their living room. Kyungsoo was sitting on his couch with Baekhyun, their homework spread all over the coffee table but completely forgotten in favor of Chinese takeout and a rerun of some variety show on the TV.

“Hey,” he announced his presence casually, not realizing that he was still shirtless and had dried tracks of sweat and dirt on him. The two boys turned their heads and Kyungsoo quickly diverted his eyes when he saw Jongin.

“I should go, Baek,” he said quietly as he set down his empty plastic plate on the table and began to clean up his school stuff. Baekhyun helped him and walked Kyungsoo to the door, standing on the side closest to Jongin.

“Is it safe for him to walk home alone this late at night?” Jongin worried once the door closed and Kyungsoo was gone. Baekhyun turned and looked at him, an unreadable expression on his face. Jongin had half the mind to go out and make sure Kyungsoo got home safely but then Baekhyun opened his mouth to speak.

“He’ll be fine. He just lives two buildings away,” the human said, walking back to the living room to clean up the mess on the table.

“He didn’t have to go so soon,” Jongin said, dropping his backpack to the ground. “This is your place too Baekhyun. Your friends can stay over if they want to.”

“Maybe Kyungsoo doesn’t want to stay around you wolves,” Baekhyun bit back as he tossed the empty plates into the kitchen garbage. He left out a few half full cartons of food though and Jongin assumed that they were for him.

“I’m not like them,” he said quietly but firmly.

“I don’t believe you,” Baekhyun replied, not an ounce of trust in his eyes.

“You don’t have to,” Jongin said back, “I know who I am.”

Jongin was a stubborn wolf, a trait that ran rampantly in their clan. It was the reason his ancestors had survived in the cutthroat human city in the first place. If Kyungsoo was going to ignore him during lecture, then Jongin would go to him instead.

The alpha found himself back in the rose lounge almost every afternoon after his last lecture. The first time he had gone back, Kyungsoo had been a little surprised to see him but Jongin kept his distance and sat at another table and pulled out his textbooks and homework. He could tell that the omega was nervous and uncomfortable with his presence but once he realized that Jongin was just there to do homework, he eased a bit and went back to focusing on his own work. A few days later, Kyungsoo didn’t even look up anymore when Jongin entered the lounge.

Some days, the two wolves were accompanied by other students taking advantage of the quiet space. Jongin didn’t pay them much mind though and spent his time trying to do his homework and just observing Kyungsoo. The omega was always extremely concentrated on whatever he had in front of him and Jongin just wanted to smooth down the furrow between his brows when it looked like he didn’t understand something or poke his cheeks when it looked like he was too focused and his entire face turned blank. They never talked, or even sat at the same table again but Jongin was okay with spending this quiet time with the omega every day. He was getting tons of studying done too which was reflecting in his increasing grade percentages.

Kyungsoo’s human friends popped into the lounge often, making a lot of noise and bothering the omega. The first time it happened, Jongin was kind of surprised to see two humans bugging Kyungsoo and pestering for his attention. It was the tall blonde Jongin had seen with Kyungsoo and Baekhyun that one time in the cafeteria, Sehun, and a loud human named Kibum. They were apparently Kyungsoo’s roommates and had decided to just come bother the omega. Kyungsoo pretended to be upset at the disruption but he looked happy as his roommates doted over him before shoving his stuff into his backpack and stealing him away for the rest of the afternoon.

The omega sometimes sat there studying for so long that he forgot to eat and Baekhyun would have to drop in and hand him some tupperware full of food or physically stuff some chips into his mouth. The human would make sure Kyungsoo ate at least two bites before leaving but not without an odd, semi-threatening glance at Jongin. The alpha had never been afraid of humans before but Baekhyun’s glares made his core go cold.

Seulgi would also pop in a couple of times with a plate of baked goods and once she started noticing that Jongin was always in the rose lounge too she would bring him a plate too and talk with him a bit before going to back to Kyungsoo’s side. She and Kyungsoo shared three out of four classes together and they always seemed to have something to discuss and would look over notes together or share earbuds as they watched something on a laptop. It made Jongin quite jealous seeing Seulgi so close to Kyungsoo. He wondered if the two of them were dating and just the thought made him shrivel up a piece of scratch paper in his hands. Dating or not though, Kyungsoo seemed to be very loved by all the humans around him and for once in his life, Jongin found himself wishing he was human too.

 

“So when are the pups coming?” Jongin teased Joonmyun as the two of them stood off to the side at an art gala that their family had been invited too. Jongin wasn’t a huge art fan, not quite understanding the appeal of rainbow squiggles on a white canvas that he was sure his niece could replicate with yogurt. He knew that it was supposed to mean something but he just didn’t get it. Joonmyun was the same as him, bored out of his mind as everyone else walked from canvas to canvas with little flutes of champagne in their hands.

“What do you mean?” Joonmyun asked, a furrow in his eyebrows.

“Well after that whole rumor fiasco, I’m pretty sure you threw Jongdae against the bed and made sure he didn’t get out of it for a few nights,” Jongin threw a suggestive eyebrow up. Joonmyun turned a bit red and shoved at Jongin’s shoulder.

“Don’t talk about my husband that way,” Joonmyun scolded him.

“You guys have been married for three years now,” Jongin reminded him. “The pups should be here soon.”

“We’re trying,” Joonmyun finally gave in and revealed. “Jongdae wasn’t ready yet but now he is. Hopefully we’ll get good news by the end of the year.”

“Your pups are gonna be so cute,” Jongin found himself cooing at his older cousin. Looking back at their childhood pictures, Joonmyun had definitely been the cutest baby out of all of them and Jongdae had an irresistible charm too. Their genes combined together would definitely create a pup worthy of the Kim name.

“Well what about you?” Joonmyun teased him back. “Any pups soon for you?”

“Hyung, I’m not even mated yet,” It was Jongin’s turn to shove him. Joonmyun let out a laugh.

“Well did anyone catch your eye at school?” Joonmyun asked. “I met Jongdae during college.”

“There might be someone,” Jongin thought of Kyungsoo and his cute face and quiet demeanor.

“You making a move on them?” Joonmyun asked, suddenly looking very interested. “I’m trying,” Jongin nodded, “it’s complicated though.”

“You’re a Kim,” Joonmyun reminded him. “It shouldn’t be that hard to get someone attracted to you.”

“He’s not like other wolves,” Jongin frowned. That’s what he liked about Kyungsoo though. He wasn’t like everyone else. He wasn’t caught up in the stifling pack dynamics or reputation and all that other stuff.

“Will your parents like him?” Joonmyun worried all of a sudden. Everything about their family was keeping their image and reputation up. Jongin swallowed, his throat feeling stiff and thick.

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly, a furrow in between his brows. “He’s not like super radical or crazy. He’s just different,” Jongin ended quietly not knowing how else to explain Kyungsoo.

“I’ll wish you luck,” Joonmyun nodded his head sympathetically. Jongin was going to need it.

           

Fall was beautiful on their campus. They had ancient trees who’s leaves turned bright red and orange and filled the atmosphere with some type of fairy forest feel and Jongin thought they were blessed to live on such a natural piece of land in the middle of their concrete jungle. With fall though came the arrival of crisp cold air and everyone had switched out their shorts and t-shirts for jeans and sweaters. Thin gloves and scarves were necessary accessories now and Jongin begrudgingly had to start wearing proper socks to keep his feet warm in the cold lecture halls. They wouldn’t turn on the heat until the actual first snowfall.

Also with the arrival of fall was society’s ever-growing need to consume overly sweet and warm drinks. Everywhere Jongin looked there was another wolf or human carrying a cutely decorated plastic coffee cup with either mountains of whipped cream piled on top or wisps of hot steam escaping from the lid. Jongin was never a coffee person. He thought it tasted like poison. Wolfsbane was banned from society now but Jongin thought that if he were ever to consume it, it would taste like the nastiness that was coffee. Despite his negative preference for the drink, he found himself one morning trailing past the brand name coffee shop on campus and an ad in the front caught his eye. They were having a two for one deal on their vanilla sweet cream brew. Jongin only recognized the name because once Kyungsoo was on the phone with someone asked them to bring it to him in the lounge. Feeling a sudden gust of courage, Jongin found himself ordering two cups of the drink and then he was off to find a certain omega on campus. They were repainting the rose lounge so Kyungsoo had decided to spread out on the quad instead, to enjoy one of the nice fall days they had.

Jongin was standing behind a big tree, watching as the omega flipped through one of his textbooks lazily as he laid down on his jacket on top of the grass. The alpha swallowed down his nervousness, his heart thundering fast in his chest as his hands clenched tightly at the warm drinks in his hand. Kyungsoo had a light gray scarf wrapped warmly around his neck and he was wearing a soft, dark green sweater that clung perfectly around his body. Jongin wondered what it would be like to flop on top of Kyungsoo and just inhale his scent and wrap his arms tightly around the omega. He forced his feet to move forward before his brain could stop himself and then suddenly he was in front of the omega and he set the drink down on the grass. Kyungsoo wrinkled his nose and looked up, his relaxed body language suddenly stiffening as he warily eyed Jongin before looking at the drink.

“They were having a two for one deal,” Jongin blurted out, trying to explain himself. “I knew this was one of your favorite drinks and I didn’t want it to go to waste so…yeah…” he gestured his hands towards the drink before nervously running it through his hair and trying to calm his heart. He felt like throwing up from the anxiousness gathering tight around his chest.

“I’ll just…I’ll just go now,” he bowed his head down not knowing what else to do. “I hope you enjoy it.” Before Kyungsoo could respond, Jongin scurried off towards his tree and hid behind it again. He pressed his back against the rough bark and took in several deep breaths to calm himself down. When he was finally composed, and the nervousness had sunk back down his throat, he peeked out from behind the tree again to look at Kyungsoo. The omega’s attention was turned back onto his textbook, the drink sitting untouched on the grass. Jongin watched for a few more minutes, and Kyungsoo didn’t touch the coffee at all, not even acknowledging its existence.

Then Kris came bouncing along across the quad, two cups of coffee in his hand and he sat next to Kyungsoo who looked up at him with a smile. Jongin felt his heart squeeze painfully as Kyungsoo sat up and packed his books, accepting the human’s gift with two hands and taking a sip out of it. The pair then stood up to head somewhere else and for the first time that day, Kyungsoo grabbed Jongin’s drink but only to toss it in the nearest trash can, along with Jongin’s heart. A sad wave of bitterness flooded Jongin as he watched Kyungsoo’s small back disappear in the passing crowd with Kris. The alpha took a sip out of his own cup and forced himself to swallow down the now cold, bitter liquid. It tasted like poison and the story behind it felt like poison too.

 

“Do Seungsoo is engaged!” Joohyun cried in despair as she swung open the door to the pack clubroom. She draped herself over Chanyeol’s arm dramatically and put on a fainting act but the other alpha just rolled his eyes at her antics.

“Who?” Jongin asked, sliding his glasses back up his nose as he shut his textbook. He had lost his contacts this morning and was running late to class so he just ended up throwing on his glasses so he could actually see the board and not bump into strangers.

“Do Seungsoo!” Joohyun shot him a look, seemingly offended that Jongin didn’t know who the other wolf was. “He’s only like the hottest alpha in the entire world, no offense to any of you,” she glanced at the other alphas in the room.

“Joohyun, I’ve never even heard of the guy,” Jongin shook his head amusedly. The name though reminded him a lot of a certain omega.

“Because he’s from the sophisticated south and he’s not a wild rag tag like all of you hooligans,” Joohyun tossed her hair over her shoulder before getting off of Chanyeol and adjusting her outfit. “He’s just so fucking hot and now he’s taken. It’s a sad day for everyone,” she pretended to weep a bit.

“How hot is this guy?” Jongin asked Chanyeol, knowing that the older alpha would probably know more than he did.

“He’s not _that_ hot,” Chanyeol scoffed, Joohyun sent a glare towards him. “He comes from old money. The Do’s are fucking loaded and they all have that snobby but charming southern image. Seungsoo is one of their best alphas. Everyone says he’s gonna lead the clan after his dad steps down.”

“I swear if he had given me just one opportunity to meet him, I would be the one engaged to him,” Joohyun stubbornly insisted.

“Do you know who he’s engaged to?” Jongin asked her.

“No idea” she shook her head. “My mom didn’t know either when I asked her.”

“That’s funny,” Chanyeol quirked his lips. “You think they’d be super loud with all this engagement news considering how elite their family is.”

“Just how elite are they?” Jongin questioned. He really had never heard of the Do’s before but then again, he had never been interested in pack or clan politics.

“You bring the Do’s up during your next family dinner and your grandfather will probably shiver,” Chanyeol answered. “Jongin my friend, you’re the top of the top here but the Do’s hardcore run things in the south.”

“You make them sound scary,” Jongin laughed, not really intimidated at all.

“Ugh,” Joohyun groaned, “just wait till you meet Seungsoo. He’s such an alpha. My knees go so weak whenever I see a picture of him.”

“Joohyun, try not to cry too hard tonight,” Jongin teased her, finding it amusing that the usually composed girl was so emotional over this guy.

“Too late,” Joohyun scoffed. “Me and the other omegas have a sob fest planned for later. You’re invited if you bring ice cream and heavenly pictures of Seungsoo.”

“Pass,” Jongin and Chanyeol said in unison. Jongin glanced at the wall clock and noticed that it was usually the time Kyungsoo would be in the rose lounge. He fought back the itch to go to the lounge. It had been four days since he had given Kyungsoo that cup of coffee and the rejection still stung. He had been avoiding the omega since then, embarrassed about what had happened. Kyungsoo didn’t seem to mind though that Jongin had practically disappeared from his sight. That made the alpha hurt just a little more though. Getting through to Kyungsoo seemed to be impossible.

 

When Jongin arrived in the cafeteria three days later, he was surprised to see all the wolves buzzing with an uneasy energy. Even Chanyeol seemed to be on edge as Jongin sat next to him with a small bowl of rice and some kimchi jjigae.

“What’s up?” Jongin carefully asked as he looked over the alpha’s tense expression.

“Do Seungsoo was spotted on campus half an hour ago,” Chanyeol said.

“Do Seungsoo?” Jongin questioned. “What would he be doing here?”

“No idea but it’s making me uncomfortable. I don’t even know why because he isn’t a threat at all but he has no reason to be here,” Chanyeol said. At that moment a new, strong scent entered the room and all the wolves seemed to still. Jongin had never seen this alpha in his entire life but he knew it had to be Seungsoo. The alpha was just a little shorter than Jongin but his shoulders were broader and the way he carried himself just screamed powerful. His face was sharp and handsome too and Jongin could feel Joohyun holding back a squeal from across the table. Seungsoo made eye contact with no one and sat down at an empty table, his foot tapping impatiently as he glanced at the Rolex watch on his wrist. He was dressed impeccably in a simple suit. The silence in the cafeteria slowly disappeared as everyone began to chatter again but no one could ignore the presence of a mature alpha.

For the first time in a few days, the familiar, comforting sweet scent of Kyungsoo gently wafted through the packed room and Jongin felt his heart begin to tighten for a different reason. His eyes immediately searched for the omega and once he was able to confirm that Kyungsoo was really here and the longing in his chest settled again deeply. Kyungsoo just looked so adorable standing at the entrance of the cafeteria, his neck still wrapped snugly in that soft gray scarf. The tip of his nose and his cheeks were stained red from the cold outside and Jongin just wanted to walk over and engulf him in a hug to warm him up. The fantasy made him giddy with butterflies and just as he was about to stupidly smile at his crazy little thoughts, Seungsoo stepped in front of Kyungsoo, grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the cafeteria.

Jongin instinctively stood up, not liking the fact that Kyungsoo was practically abducted by another alpha but Chanyeol grabbed him and pulled him down before anyone could notice. Everyone else had been watching though as Seungsoo had grabbed Kyungsoo and then they began to talk. Jongin felt a hard pit form in his gut as he quietly listened because once again Kyungsoo had become fodder for baseless, harmful rumors.

 

 

-

 

 

Kyungsoo couldn’t breathe. The overwhelming scent of his brother was clogging up his every sense and the tightness around his wrist as he was pulled through the hallways stung but the rest of him felt freezingly numb. He wasn’t even sure how he was walking because his soul seemed to have left his body and was hanging out two feet above his head. He had questions-many questions-but the only one that really mattered was what the fuck was his brother doing on his campus?

Seungsoo finally stopped when he found an abandoned hallway. Kyungsoo noticed that it was the Education Department’s hallway. They had all gone on a field trip today to visit some schools. Seungsoo let go of his wrist and Kyungsoo snapped back to his senses and rubbed at it sorely. He unconsciously turned his face to the side so that Seungsoo wouldn’t see his scars. He had always felt like Seungsoo had been more ashamed of the scars than himself and he didn’t want to ruin things for his brother.

“W-what are you doing here?” Kyungsoo stammered as he tried to calm his beating heart. Seungsoo had never searched for him before and all Kyungsoo could think of was bad scenarios. Maybe his father had died and Seungsoo was here to tell him that he was being officially kicked out of the clan. Maybe Seungsoo was just here to remind him not to fuck up.

The alpha was quiet for a moment as he took in the sight of his younger brother before he reached into the pocket inside of his suit jacket and pulled out a gold envelope. He grabbed Kyungsoo’s hand and opened up his palm before placing the envelope gently into it.

“What’s this?” Kyungsoo asked, eyes going wide as he stared at the shimmering gold.

“I came to personally invite you to my wedding,” Seungsoo stated, his voice a little gravelly. Kyungsoo hadn’t even remembered what Seungsoo’s voice sounded like. They hadn’t had an actual conversation in years, each of them keeping to their own rooms and to themselves. Their mother had cried whenever she saw them within two feet of each other and after a while, Kyungsoo was just tired of seeing his mother cry.

“Oh,” Kyungsoo nodded, flipping the envelope over in his hands and feeling the smoothness of the paper. He had heard about the wedding through a text from his father’s secretary. He didn’t understand why Seungsoo would come all the way here to just hand him a useless envelope though. Both of them knew that Kyungsoo wasn’t allowed to go and shame the rest of the family with his face. The bride’s family could pull out of the entire wedding and it would be all Kyungsoo’s fault.

“I looked up your finals schedule and set the wedding date for a week after your last final,” Seungsoo said. “That way you can spend the last few weeks of your winter break at home relaxing and not stressing about the wedding.” Kyungsoo’s head shot up at this and he felt his lower lip begin to tremble.

“I’m not coming home for break this year,” he shook his head. Baekhyun had offered to take him home for the break and Kyungsoo had gladly accepted. Last year he had spent winter break miserably at the mansion while Sehun and Baekhyun sent him pictures and videos from their ski trip.

“Kyungsoo,” Seungsoo sighed, “I’m getting _married_.”

“Congratulations,” Kyungsoo mumbled, not knowing what else Seungsoo wanted from him.

“I want you to be there,” Seungsoo stated clearly, his eyes narrowing and his eyebrows furrowing.

 _Why?_ Kyungsoo wanted to scream. Was it so he could make a laughing stock out of Kyungsoo as wedding entertainment? Did Seungsoo not want to marry the girl and was using Kyungsoo as a tool to cancel the wedding?

“I don’t want to be there,” Kyungsoo replied honestly, shaking his head. Seungsoo could find some other way to get out of his wedding but Kyungsoo wasn’t going to be a part of it. He had made too much progress in his self-esteem and confidence over the past year to be torn down again at the expense of his family.

“You’re going,” Seungsoo decided, voice firm. “I’m only getting married once and I want my baby brother to be there with me on that day.”

“Does mother know?” Kyungsoo asked. She would throw a fit if she found out that Kyungsoo was going to be there to ruin the perfect day. She would probably lock him in some closet until the reception was over. The pit of Kyungsoo’s stomach rolled just thinking about it.

“I don’t care if she knows or not. You’re coming to my wedding and that is final,” Seungsoo nodded. “I’ll have a driver pick you up on your last day of class and drive you home. I have to head back today to do things but I’ll be in the city again in two weeks. I’m going to take you out for lunch then. I want you to meet my fiancé,” Seungsoo said, leaving no room for any protests. Kyungsoo didn’t talk back, knowing that it would lead to no good. Seungsoo had made up his mind and it was hard to change an alpha’s mind.

“I have class,” Kyungsoo lied, not making eye contact with his brother. His classes were done for the day. He had wanted to go into the cafeteria to find Baekhyun or Sehun before heading home but instead his brother had dragged him all over campus.

“I’ll let you go then,” Seungsoo said, taking half a step back from Kyungsoo, his eyes softening all of a sudden. Kyungsoo turned his back and began to walk out of the Education Department. He wanted to go back to his apartment. He wanted to bury himself in his blankets and just forget that this entire situation had happened.

“I’ll see you in two weeks,” Seungsoo called out behind him. Kyungsoo ignored him and shuffled his way back towards the apartments.

Kyungsoo was hiding underneath his blankets, an anime playing on his phone when he heard the front door of his apartment click open and the sound of his friend’s loud voices climbing over each other as shoes were kicked off and backpacks were dropped onto the floor. Kyungsoo curled in closer to himself, not remembering if he locked his bedroom door or not but it suddenly flew open and someone had jumped onto his bed, tackling him and trying to wrestle the blankets off of him.

“Leave me alone, Baek,” Kyungsoo whined as he tried to push the human away. He wanted some alone time to just mope over his reappearing brother.

“Never!” Baekhyun declared as he fought his way under the blankets and wrapped his skinny body around Kyungsoo’s. “You aren’t allowed to feel sad Kyungsoo. Annoyed maybe but not sad.” Baekhyun snuggled into Kyungsoo’s shoulder and the omega smelt a whiff of strong alpha and he stilled. It was Jongin’s scent faintly lingering on Baekhyun. Kyungsoo could recognize that smell anywhere, even though he hadn’t seen the alpha in the last week or so.

“You smell like your roommate,” he offhandedly commented, turning his head and trying not to inhale more of Jongin. Baekhyun scoffed and shook his head.

“He practically jumped me when he saw me and demanded to know where you were,” Baekhyun said. “Speaking of which, did something happen today? I heard your name being passed around campus. Did someone hurt you again Kyungsoo? Is that why you’re sad? Who do I need to kill? Sehun promised to help me too.”

“Sehun doesn’t need to kill anyone,” Kyungsoo told Baekhyun, secretly feeling grateful that his human friends cared for him so much. “My brother just dropped in out of nowhere and pulled me aside for a few minutes. That’s all.”

“Your brother?” Baekhyun asked. “You mean your deadbeat brother who you haven’t talked to in like a decade?”

“Yeah him,” Kyungsoo murmured, thinking back to the few minutes they shared together earlier in the afternoon. He harbored no ill feelings towards Seungsoo but they didn’t have many happy memories together either. The last pleasant memory he had of the older alpha was when before he started kindergarten. Seungsoo had shifted in their yard and Kyungsoo had climbed onto his back and they had play wrestled and trotted around for hours outside searching for hidden treasure. Kyungsoo remembered digging his little hands into the softness of his brother’s fur. He remembered Seungsoo scaring off a snake that had come just a little too close to him. He remembered Seungsoo actually wanting to be around him.

“What did he want?” Baekhyun frowned. The human knew all about Kyungsoo’s unfortunate past and his strained relationship with his family. Baekhyun had seen firsthand Kyungsoo getting taunted in front of the library by a group of wolves and the bold human had stepped up and swung his umbrella around, whacking an alpha in the nose. Since that day Baekhyun hadn’t left Kyungsoo alone and the omega never asked him to leave.

“He invited me to his wedding over winter break,” Kyungsoo answered, knowing he couldn’t hide anything from Baekhyun. “He wouldn’t let me say no.”

“But you’re supposed to spend winter break with us,” Baekhyun pouted, sounding sad. “Sehun and I were going to stuff you with spiked hot chocolate and marshmallows.”

“I don’t know if he’ll let me get out of this,” Kyungsoo said, beginning to worry about what else his brother had up his sleeve. “He said he was coming back in two weeks to visit me.”

“Don’t go meet him,” Baekhyun said immediately. “I don’t feel good about this Kyungsoo. I don’t think you should see him.”

“He’s my brother,” Kyungsoo shook his head, knowing that Baekhyun didn’t understand pack dynamics, “and he’s an alpha. I just can’t not go see him.”

“I’ll come with you then. Me and Sehun can tag along so you don’t feel so lonely. Wolves don’t scare us,” Baekhyun puffed up his chest.

“He’s bringing his fiancé,” Kyungsoo continued to worry. “I don’t know if he’ll feel comfortable with two strange humans around her.”

“But you won’t feel comfortable with two wolves around you,” Baekhyun pointed out. “It’s a win-win situation.”

“I’ll think about it,” Kyungsoo nodded, but he already knew that if his brother did show up again he would be meeting him alone. Baekhyun and Sehun acted tough and weren’t intimidated by alphas at all but Kyungsoo knew better. He wouldn’t put his friends in danger just so that he could feel comfortable.

“Jongin was worried about me?” Kyungsoo hesitantly asked, thinking about the alpha again.

“He’s so weird,” Baekhyun shriveled up his nose. “He’s the weirdest alpha I’ve ever met.”

“He is weird,” Kyungsoo found himself agreeing with a nod of his head. Jongin was the only wolf who didn’t treat him like he was dirt. Some wolves still liked to make fun of him and push him around. Most wolves just ignored his existence and pretended that he was a measly human. Jongin on the other hand didn’t bully him or shove him but he didn’t just leave him alone either. For a few weeks the alpha seemed to be everywhere that Kyungsoo looked and he even brought Kyungsoo a drink one time. Jongin being so…friendly was something that Kyungsoo was not used to from wolves and he was very wary of it. There was the high possibility that the only reason Jongin was being so nice was because he was planning on sucking the omega into his little friend group before humiliating him in front of everyone for entertainment. It had happened before to Kyungsoo, when he thought he could trust another wolf and just ended up being shamed and laughed at for being so gullible and hopeful. Kyungsoo wouldn’t let it happen to him again.

 

“Look it’s the beast,” a beta hooted as Kyungsoo walked by to his first class. He instinctively cowered at the statement, expecting a wad of paper or a cup to be thrown at him along with the words.

“Aww the little beastie is scared,” the beta crooned as he and his group of friends began to circle Kyungsoo. The omega tightened the grip he had on the strap of his backpack and kept his head down. Things would only get worse if they saw his scars. The taunts had been kept to a minimum ever since the semester started and he didn’t know why they were starting up again.

“So our little ugly omega finally got a taste of some alpha knot huh?” An alpha asked as he took a step closer to Kyungsoo. The omega stiffened at the wrenching scent of alpha invading his nostrils. Alpha knot? What strange rumors were people spreading about him now?

“Always thought that Seungsoo was a smart, respectable guy but he’s out here ruining his perfect engagement by messing around with an ugly omega like you,” The alpha sneered. “You must be really good at sucking cock or your ass must be tight because no alpha could look you in the face during a moment like that. My boner would die faster than a poisoned rat.”

Kyungsoo almost wanted to laugh at his ridiculous claims. They thought he was sleeping with Seungsoo. They thought that Kyungsoo had become some side whore to one of the most powerful alphas of their generation.

“Seungsoo,” Kyungsoo hesitantly said, not sure if it was smart of him to correct the alpha, “He’s my brother,” he admitted, “Do Seungsoo is my brother.” There was a moment of silence as everyone let that revelation sink in, the similarities between the two names finally clicking. Do Kyungsoo had been so looked down upon before that no one had even thought that he could be one of those Do’s.

 

“I heard his mom tried to kill herself when she saw how ugly he was when he was born.”

“I heard that his mom kicked him out but his dad felt bad and let him come back and live with the maids.”

“I heard that-” there was the sharp sound of a textbook slamming against the table as Sehun glared at the female wolves gossiping before class started. Kyungsoo was sitting right next to him, eyes staring blankly and coldly ahead at the whiteboard as his pen tapped rhythmically against his empty sheet of paper. Things had gotten worse since he had revealed that he was actually the second son of the one of the leaders of the famed clan. If he had thought his last name would actually protect him, he had been foolishly wrong because everyone had just found out how much of a shame he was to his family. He was the smudged black mark on their pristine reputation and now everyone knew it and they wouldn’t let him forget it. They all knew that his mother didn’t love him and that his father didn’t care what happened to him. They all knew that in the eyes of his own family he was a burden, so to the world he was worthless.

“Don’t listen to them,” Sehun said as he sat down on his chair with a frown on his face. “They’re wrong, Kyungsoo. You’re not ugly. You’re not worthless. We _love_ you.” He didn’t respond to Sehun, the professor walking in and starting their lecture.

Kyungsoo didn’t dare wander around campus anymore, sticking to just his lectures and then darting back to the apartment as fast as he could before he could be cornered and reminded of just how ugly he was. He avoided mirrors again, brushing his teeth and washing his face in the bathtub in order to not have to stare at the scars marring his eye. They hadn’t bothered him in a while but now he felt like they were bulging again and growing redder. At night when it was pitch black and he was alone in his room, he would let the pads of his fingers trace over the rough, scarred tissues and he would be reminded of just how fucked up his face was and how that had fucked up his entire life.

           

“You’re eating with us today,” Baekhyun stated, leaving no room for any arguments as he grabbed Kyungsoo’s wrist and dragged him towards the cafeteria. A week had already passed since Seungsoo had first visited and for a week Kyungsoo had been constantly picked on whenever another wolf saw his face. He had been eating all of his meals back at the apartment and on his busy days where he didn’t have the time to get home, he wound up missing a few meals too. He didn’t even have the comfort of the rose lounge anymore because word had gotten out that was his go-to place and the one time he tried to go study, there was the overwhelming, toxic stench of strange alphas waiting by the door for him and he had quickly turned on his heels and practically ran back to the safety of his apartment.

“Don’t let those idiots win, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun said with a determined huff as they neared the cafeteria. “You’re better than every single one of those fuckwards.”

“Thanks Baek,” Kyungsoo said quietly just to appease his friend. He would probably just eat a few fries and then bolt on out of there. After nearly twelve years of being the community’s verbal punching bag, one would think Kyungsoo was used to the stares and the swears but he wasn’t. His heart was hardened but the cruel words still sunk into the soft parts of his brain and engrained themselves into traumatic memories.

As usual the cafeteria was noisy when they entered and Kyungsoo found himself curling in on himself as Baekhyun unapologetically lead them towards the table where Sehun and Seulgi were sitting at. Kyungsoo kept his head down as he sat down next to Seulgi and she smiled empathetically at him before wrapping an arm around him and rubbing his shoulder warmly. The female human was one of his most cherished friends and she always knew just what to do to make him feel just a little better. Sometimes Sehun was too quiet and Baekhyun was too loud but Seulgi always just knew what type of emotional support Kyungsoo needed.

“I can go get you fries,” Baekhyun offered, knowing not to push Kyungsoo too much. The omega nodded, knotting his fingers together underneath the table. The mean words were starting again and he was trying his best to just block them out. Sehun hooked a foot around his and tapped it lightly. Kyungsoo tapped back just to let him know he was grateful for the human boy.

“What’s our little beastie doing out of his lair?” a taunting voice asked as a large presence stood over Kyungsoo.

“Leave us the fuck alone, Minho,” Seulgi shot back, uncharacteristically mean as she glared at the alpha.

“Aww our ugly beastie’s so weak he needs his little human bitch to back him up,” Minho teased with a snicker, the wolves at surrounding tables laughing too. Kyungsoo’s eyes were trained intensely on the gray of the table as his anxiety began to act up. He knew this was a bad idea. He should’ve just gone home. He could breathe properly at home. It didn’t feel like the world was trying to swallow him whole at home.

“Get the fuck out of here, Choi,” Sehun stood up his hands clenching onto the edge of the table. Minho was tall but Sehun was tall too and even though he was human, he wasn’t a bit intimidated by the alpha. “You too Park. Leave Kyungsoo alone.”

“I haven’t done shit,” Chanyeol bit back defensively, his pheromones kicking off and the thickness of it hitting Kyungsoo straight on. Chanyeol was tense and angry and Kyungsoo suddenly felt very afraid. He didn’t know much about the alpha but he did know that Chanyeol was a one-top at the university and everyone found him to be pretty chill but if his temper went off, the aftermath would have people talking for months. Kyungsoo didn’t want to be the one to set the unstable alpha off.

“You know what you’ve fucking done,” Sehun retorted back, just as angry as the alpha. “Don’t act like a fucking innocent because I know everything,” the human threatened.

“Shut the fuck up, Oh,” Chanyeol growled menacingly low. To Sehun this would be just an empty threat but Kyungsoo knew better. He recognized the sound of an alpha who wasn’t afraid to attack.

“Sehun, stop,” Kyungsoo pleaded quietly.

“Should I just tell everyone?” Sehun said loudly, ignoring the omega and getting the attention of more people in the cafeteria. “Should I just reveal your little secret Park so that everyone will stop shitting on my best friend and you heathens can get a taste of your own bitter medicine?”

“Stop,” Kyungsoo begged, voice growing more desperate as he kicked at Sehun’s legs under the table.

“Don’t you fucking dare, Oh,” Chanyeol threatened, voice on its last edge.

“I fucking would,” Sehun shot back. “I can ruin your fucking life and then all of you cowardly mutts would know what it’s like to be on the other end of the food chain.”

That was the breaking point for the alpha. Chanyeol lunged over the table to grab at Sehun but Kyungsoo had shot out of his seat to block his friend from the attack. It had happened in a split second and then the entire cafeteria had turned silent, as if everyone had dropped dead at the same time.

Kyungsoo blinked, his head turned to the side and he felt a stinging sensation as he straightened himself out. The room was still eerily quiet and Kyungsoo found himself making eye contact with Seulgi who’s mouth was pursed into a little ‘o’ with unshed tears in her eyes.

“Kyung-Kyungsoo,” her voice wavered as she blinked and a few tears dropped down her face.

The omega was still a little stunned, the adrenaline finishing it’s course through his body but then he felt a little drop of liquid on his hand and he looked down to see a splat of red on his knuckles. A few more drops landed on his hand and the floor and he looked up to see Chanyeol staring at his own hand, half shifted into a paw, a single claw stained with crimson red blood.

It hit him all at once as he realized what had happened and he choked back a sob as his hand went up to touch the right side of his face. Skin that used to be soft and smooth was now sticky and painful to touch and Kyungsoo pulled his hand away to see blood decorating the pads of his fingertips.

“What did you do?” Baekhyun’s high tone broke the silence of the cafeteria. Everyone turned to look at the human who had dropped his entire tray on the floor, his eyes murderous as they locked onto Chanyeol. “What the fuck did you do Chanyeol?” Baekhyun screamed as he marched up to the alpha and shoved him roughly in the chest. The commotion in the room started up with again with everyone finally coming to terms with the situation and Kyungsoo took the moment to flee, ignoring Sehun and Seulgi’s shouts after him as he ran out of the cafeteria and towards anywhere he could be alone. He could still hear Baekhyun yelling hysterically at Chanyeol and it sounded like a fight had broken out with the scuffling of chairs and tables.

Kyungsoo didn’t care anymore. He just needed to get out of here. He just needed to get away, maybe for good.

“Kyungsoo!” Someone called after him as he burst through the building doors and into the chilling winter cold. The biting wind slapped him across the face but he blindly trekked on, not even knowing where he was headed.

“Kyungsoo!” the person caught up to him and grabbed his arm to turn him around. It was Jongin. The alpha had run out without his coat, only in a short sleeved t-shirt. His worried eyes traced over Kyungsoo’s face and Kyungsoo hated it.

“Let me go,” Kyungsoo tore his arm out of Jongin’s grip, hurting his shoulder in the process as he whipped back around to run. He only made it a few feet before Jongin caught up to him again and this time grabbed him tightly by the waist.

“Stop,” Jongin panted against his neck. “You’re hurt. We need to get you help. You can’t go off like this.”

“Leave me the fuck alone Jongin,” Kyungsoo fought back, clawing at the alpha’s hands that were intertwined around him. He didn’t want to be around anyone right now, especially not another wolf who would never give a shit about him. He could feel his chest begin to swell with anxiety as Jongin’s grip didn’t falter. Everything began to feel too tight and he was running short of breath as an incoming headache squeezed in painfully.

“I’m not letting you go,” Jongin said. “We’re getting you help. I’m not leaving you alone like this.”

“Stop,” Kyungsoo yelled at him, punching at Jongin’s hands now. “I don’t need your fucking help.” He didn’t want Jongin’s help. He didn’t want anyone’s help. He just needed to be alone.

“No,” Jongin shook his head, his voice hoarse. “I’m not going to let you go.” Kyungsoo choked in a breath mixed with a sob and he felt his head go light as his knees began to weaken. His cheek was stinging painfully now, the salt from his tears mixing in with the wound.

“Let me go Jongin. Let me go!” He punctuated each word with a punch to the alpha’s tight grip and then his knees gave out and he collapsed with a heaving sob as Jongin’s stance also faltered and they fell together. Jongin caught him before he could hit the snow-dusted sidewalk and Kyungsoo could feel the adrenaline leave his body along with the blood rushing down from his brain. His entire body felt weak and he heaved for another breath, the shock finally catching up to him as his eyesight began to blur.

“Kyungsoo,” Jongin shook him gently, a sharp contrast to the urgency of his voice. “Kyungsoo,” he repeated, more desperately this time. Kyungsoo didn’t have the strength to respond so instead he closed his eyes and he finally felt alone.

           

When Kyungsoo woke up he was wrapped snugly in two layers of blankets in a pitch-black room. He felt too warm, but not in a bad way, in a comforting way that his body heat radiated around him and kept him safe like a cocoon. If he had woken up in a strange room like this in any other situation, he would’ve panicked but it was a deep, familiar, calming scent that kept him soothed and he found himself burrowing in deeper into the pillow and blankets and closed his eyes again. His right cheek brushed against the fluffy pillow but instead of feeling softness on his skin, he could feel it rubbing against something scratchy. Begrudgingly, he slipped his hand out of the warmth of the blankets and tenderly touched his cheek and found that a large Band-Aid had been placed on it. He suddenly remembered the entire cafeteria incident and shuddered, his stomach dropping uncomfortably. Chanyeol had accidently clawed his good cheek and now he was ugly no matter what angle people looked at him. Kyungsoo would’ve cried at his misfortune but he was too exhausted to even do that.

The door cracked open and a stream of yellow light from the hallway peaked in before it disappeared just as quickly. There was the shuffling of feet against the carpet and Kyungsoo found himself stiffening as he closed his eyes shut. The lamp was switched on and there were more footsteps and a deep sigh and then a hand gently smoothed his hair back and pulled the covers up more under his chin. The smell of alpha was permeating through the small room but Kyungsoo didn’t feel scared for once, he felt slightly relaxed and subtly took in a deeper breath and realized that the scent was Jongin.

“Jongin?” he asked softly, opening his eyes to see the younger alpha standing over him. Jongin’s eyes grew wide as he took a step back and removed his hand from Kyungsoo’s blankets.

“Y-you’re awake,” the alpha stammered, eyes darting nervously around. “You fainted out in the snow so I took you to the school clinic and they disinfected your wound and patched it up. I was going to take you back to your place but you didn’t have your keys with you so I thought I’d take you back here and let you rest in Baekhyun’s room for a while,” he listed off quickly, leaving no breath for Kyungsoo to ask any questions. Kyungsoo finally realized why the room smelled so familiar and comforting, it was Baekhyun’s. And now with the lights on he could clearly tell it was the human’s based on the old school Pokémon posters on the walls.

“Where is he?” Kyungsoo asked, his voice a little hoarse but not sounding too awful. What he really wanted was a glass of water but he didn’t know how to ask Jongin for that.

“He’s actually suspended for a week,” Jongin said quietly. “He and Chanyeol. I guess they made quite a scene in the cafeteria and campus security had to get involved. They both aren’t allowed back on campus for a week. I texted him and told him that you were here. He threatened to tear my head off if anything happened to you. He’s still heated,” the alpha rubbed the back of his neck

“Does anyone else know I’m here?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Not unless Baekhyun told them,” Jongin shook his head. “Do you want to go home now? I can walk you back to your apartment. Or I can get Sehun’s number and have him come here.”

“Do I have to go?” Kyungsoo found himself asking. He didn’t really want to see anyone else right now. Sehun would be a worried, panicked mess and blame himself for the situation and as much as Kyungsoo loved his roommate, he just didn’t want to deal with that. Jongin looked stunned at his question but then he shook his head.

“You don’t have to go,” the alpha said softly. “You can stay here as long as you want.”

Jongin had somehow miraculously obtained a doctor’s note from the school clinic allowing Kyungsoo the rest of the week off to recover from his incident. He was still required to do makeup work and online quizzes but was excused from mandatory attendance and participation credit. So Kyungsoo was planning on spending the week in Jongin’s apartment, wrapped up in Baekhyun’s bed and hiding himself away from the world. The first three days were fine but then he found himself growing sick of staring at Baekhyun’s closet and walls. He didn’t have his phone and Baekhyun’s laptop was probably with the human in his backpack. He found himself napping a lot and whenever he woke up, there was a tray of food sitting on the night stand waiting for him. It was painfully simple food and Kyungsoo had the inkling that Jongin wasn’t a great cook but the gesture was nice. For breakfast he was given a bowl of dry cereal and a carton of milk chilled in a small bowl of ice along with a banana. Jongin managed to find fifteen minutes between in his two afternoon classes to drop him a sandwich from the cafeteria and a bag of chips and a water bottle. Then dinner was a bowl of soup and some rice. The soup was a little salty and the rice could’ve been cooked a little softer but Kyungsoo didn’t have much of an appetite anyways.

On the fourth day of his ‘recovery’, Kyungsoo waited for the closing of the front door signaling that Jongin had left for his morning class. He timidly got out of bed, dressed in one of Baekhyun’s big sleeping shirts and plaid pajama pants and he cracked open the bedroom door and peeked out into the hallway just to make sure that the alpha really was gone. Once the coast was clear, he stepped out and shuffled his way into the living room. Jongin and Baekhyun kept it relatively clean for college students, just a stray jacket hanging on the couch and a few scattered papers and textbooks on the coffee table.

Kyungsoo went into the small kitchen and opened the fridge, surprised to see that it wasn’t as bare as he was expecting. There was some chicken breast left to defrost and a green array of vegetables. He was guessing that Baekhyun was normally the cook in their apartment. Before he had arrived in the city, Kyungsoo hadn’t cooked once in his life but throughout his first year of avoiding the university cafeteria and trying to feed Sehun’s bottomless stomach, he had learned how to cook and he actually enjoyed it too. He wouldn’t say he was an amazing cook but he could create a nice meal and Sehun and Kibum were always stealing his leftovers to pack for lunch.

He set out the chicken on the counter to defrost some more and grabbed a bag of broccoli. After he chopped up the broccoli he checked the rice cooker and found that nearly empty too. The omega spent the morning cooking lunch and after he was done he parked himself on the couch with the TV turned on and a comfy throw blanket over his lap and shoulders. He never knew that weekday morning shows could be so boring and he found himself dozing off as the TV ran in the background.

It was the smell of alpha that woke Kyungsoo up, his eyelids blinking heavily as he nosed at the blanket and stretched. Jongin was sitting on the coffee table in front of him, looking a little wary. The alpha had already taken off his winter coat and was dressed in a faded pair of jeans and red hoodie, his blonde hair messy from his hat. Kyungsoo straightened himself up and blinked, not knowing how to interact with Jongin.

“I-I made lunch,” Kyungsoo found himself saying first. “It’s keeping warm in the oven.” Jongin looked a little surprised at Kyungsoo’s initiative but he didn’t make a comment about it.

“You can pack some for class,” Kyungsoo told him, diverting his eyes away from the alpha’s warm, blue ones. They reminded the omega of a relaxing tropical lagoon where people went to melt away their worries.

“My third class was canceled today,” Jongin said, clearing his throat. “I’m done for the day.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo nodded.

“Have you eaten yet?” Jongin asked. Kyungsoo shook his head.

“We can eat together then,” Jongin said, a hopeful smile on his face. Kyungsoo nodded again, trying to stop his face from flushing. Jongin was handsome. Anyone with two working eyes could see that. It wasn’t just his perfect facial features that made him so handsome though, his rare blue eyes and natural blonde hair made him maddeningly attractive and the alpha was one of the kindest wolves that Kyungsoo had ever met-maybe the only kind wolf that he had met. Other than the awkward staring during their first few encounters, Jongin had been nothing but nice and respectful towards him. Kyungsoo even remembered almost asking Jongin out on a date during their group project but he had been turned down in favor of a pack. He had been a little hurt back then but it had also been a little wake up call to not get his hopes up for anything. Jongin was a handsome, young alpha with a lot of potential for his future. He needed the support of a pack and constant approval from society. What he didn’t need was an ugly, useless omega pining hopelessly after him.

Lunch was an awkward affair, neither of them speaking and just the sound of their chopsticks and spoons scratching against the plates. Jongin loaded the dishwasher and Kyungsoo disappeared back into Baekhyun’s room to work on some assignments. He assumed that Jongin was working on school work too because he heard the door to the alpha’s room close and then the punching of buttons on a calculator and the scratching of pencil on paper.

Later at about five, after Kyungsoo had gotten through quite a few assignments and even managed to take a small nap, there was knock on the door and Kyungsoo coughed out a quiet “Come in.”

“Do you want to order pizza for dinner?” Jongin asked, standing by the doorframe.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo nodded.

“Is pepperoni and pineapple okay?” Jongin asked again. The alpha had exchanged his hoodie and jeans for an old, soft t-shirt and a pair of sweats. Kyungsoo was still in Baekhyun’s pajamas and he felt a bit scrubby.

“Pineapple?” Kyungsoo asked, one of his eyebrows quirking up.

“Oh sorry,” Jongin stammered. “We don’t have to get pineapple. I know some people think it’s the grossest thing on earth. We can just do pepperoni. Or we can add sausage if you’d like too? I don’t like olives though so we can skip on those,” the alpha rambled on, his face growing red with each word.

“I like pineapple,” Kyungsoo interrupted him with a small smile. Rambling, nervous Jongin was endearingly cute and Kyungsoo had never seen such a nervous alpha before. “None of my friends like pineapple though so I was just surprised.”

“Oh,” Jongin blushed, a small smile on his face too. “None of my friends like pineapple either.”

“I’ll pay you back when I get my wallet,” Kyungsoo told him, feeling bad that he was leeching off of Jongin.

“It’s okay,” Jongin murmured. “It’s just pizza.”

An hour later, the pizza had arrived and the two boys were sitting cross-legged on the couch because it seemed more comfortable and less formal than the kitchen table. Things were still a little awkward but for some reason they felt just a little more familiar with each other. There was grease on their fingers and a throw blanket over their laps.

“Is umm, is Do Seungsoo really your brother?” Jongin asked, starting a conversation. Kyungsoo swallowed and took a swig out of the beer that Jongin had put out.

“He is,” the omega nodded. “Seungsoo is my big brother.”

“Everyone says that your family is scary,” Jongin tried to joke, taking a bite out of his pizza and getting some tomato sauce on his lip. Kyungsoo gestured at it and Jongin wiped it away.

“Not scary,” Kyungsoo shook his head. “Just intimidating.” He thought back to his father’s gaze that hardened after the incident and his tight smile. His mother’s unfiltered words could cut someone like a blade. Seungsoo was just impeccably cold. His family had been happy before Kyungsoo’s face got fucked up. He had been the reason everything had changed.

“You’re a Kim,” Kyungsoo stated, deciding to change the topic. “Does everyone in your family really have blonde hair and blue eyes?” Jongin shook his head a little, his grey-blonde locks falling over his forehead cutely.

“Obviously people who marry into our family don’t have the blonde hair and blue eyes but all the offspring do,” Jongin answered. “We all have either white, blonde, or gray fur too. My grandpa likes to joke that it’s the way we know we don’t have any bastard children. If I’m honest though, I think I’d want my pups to have my eyes but my mate’s fur color. I’d think they’d be so cute with dark hair and blue eyes.”

“Blue eyes are pretty,” Kyungsoo agreed looking at Jongin’s face. The alpha’s side profile was facing him and he could see Jongin’s pretty blue eyes. He imagined them paired with chocolate hair and cherubic cheeks and a button nose and felt his heart squeeze. Jongin’s pups were going to be adorable.

“What color is your fur?” Jongin asked him suddenly.

“Brown,” Kyungsoo answered. “At least I think it’s brown. I haven’t shifted in years.” The last time he had shifted was when he was sixteen, in the rain in the fields behind their mansion. There wasn’t a specific reason why he shifted but he just did.

“Why not?” Jongin continued to ask. Kyungsoo felt a little pressed by the constant questioning but he felt like answering. Jongin seemed to be someone he could talk to about his wolf issues. Sehun and Baekhyun would never understand no matter how hard they tried.

“No reason to,” Kyungsoo mumbled. He was never invited to full moon pack runs and shifting was too much of a hassle in his little three-bedroom apartment and there would be fur everywhere and he just didn’t see the need to create such a mess.

“Do you want to run with me during the next full moon?” Jongin asked all of a sudden. Kyungsoo looked up at the alpha with shock, his heart beginning to beat faster. Why would Jongin ask him that all of a sudden?

“Wh-why would you want that?” Kyungsoo asked back, dropping the crust of his pizza down on his paper plate.

“I’m not really in the mood to run with the pack and I don’t want to do it alone,” Jongin said. “I don’t think it’s fun to be alone during a full moon either. We could do it together.”

“That’s very nice of you, Jongin,” Kyungsoo said quietly. “But you don’t have to do that.”

“Next full moon, you and me are going to run together,” Jongin nodded confirming his one sided plans. “I’ll stand in front of your apartment and howl until you come out.”

“Jongin-”

“It’s going to happen,” Jongin said firmly. “I’m not taking no for an answer.” Kyungsoo kept quiet, not knowing how to respond. Not once in fourteen years had he been invited to a pack run before and now a handsome alpha wanted to be alone with him during a full moon. It was a little too much and way too unrealistic and Kyungsoo felt the insides of his stomach began to curl again. He wanted badly to believe that Jongin was not a bad person and was not using him just for fun but he just didn’t know.

“I-I think I need some alone time,” Kyungsoo said, getting up to go throw his plate away and wash his hands. Jongin nodded and leaned back to give Kyungsoo some space. As the omega was walking back to Baekhyun’s room to calm himself down, the hallway lights began to flicker and then they completely shut off, the entire apartment drowning in darkness. Kyungsoo yelped at the suddenness and pressed himself against a wall. Jongin’s scent was immediately beside him and Kyungsoo breathed it in finding it soothing.

“Kyungsoo, are you okay?” Jongin called out, his fingertips bumping against Kyungsoo’s body before wrapping loosely around the omega’s wrists.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo breathed out. “I’m okay, just a little surprised.” Jongin’s phone dinged and he fished it out of his sweat pockets, the glow from the screen lighting up the hallway dimly.

“Power outage because of the cold,” Jongin read the message from his landlord. “Backup generators are down and they won’t be able to fix it till tomorrow morning. Heaters are down and the snowstorm in the east switched directions here so it’ll be snowing all night. They expect classes to be canceled for tomorrow.” He exited his messages and pulled up his weather app. The temperature was in the negatives and heavy snow was predicted for the rest of the night.

“I’ll go find candles to light up the place,” Jongin said.

“I’ll go with you,” Kyungsoo said. He couldn’t maneuver his way through the apartment without any light and he might as well make himself useful.

“Can I hold your hand?” Jongin asked cautiously. Kyungsoo didn’t say anything but he fumbled out his hand and felt Jongin’s fingers wrap around them carefully. Jongin took them to the kitchen with the help of his phone light and they opened a few drawers and found six candles and a lighter. Jongin grabbed another plastic baggy full of something else and then they were off to Jongin’s bedroom. With the heater turned off, the temperature of the apartment was already beginning to drop and Kyungsoo felt himself shivering.

“I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Jongin said as they stopped in front of his room door. “But I think it would be better if we stayed together for the night. It’ll be warmer with both of us. I can go steal Baekhyun’s blankets and pillows too.” Kyungsoo did feel a little uncomfortable but Jongin was right. If he were alone in just Baekhyun’s room he was going to freeze tonight.

“Let’s light the candles first,” the omega said. Jongin pushed open his door and they set the candles around Jongin’s nightstand, desk, and dresser. As Jongin left with his phone to go fetch as many blankets and pillows as he could, Kyungsoo lit the candles and then gently sat on the edge of Jongin’s bed to wait for the alpha. Jongin had three fluffy pillows and two thick blankets on his bed. Kyungsoo knew that Baekhyun also had two pillows and two blankets and he hoped that they would be able to keep warm tonight. He could already feel the biting cold seeping in through the windows. Jongin stumbled in with a mountain of blankets and pillows in his arms and threw them on the empty space on the bed next to Kyungsoo.

“I can grab you a sweater and some sweats. Do you want fuzzy socks too? I have so many new pairs of them. I usually don’t like wearing socks but my sisters think it’s funny to buy me them every year,” Jongin rambled again as he began to prop the pillows up. Kyungsoo noticed that the alpha tended to ramble a lot when he was nervous but he also had his moments where he was stubborn and headstrong. It was confusing but Kyungsoo didn’t mind it.

“Socks would be nice,” Kyungsoo nodded as he got up and helped straighten out the two extra blankets. “Maybe two pairs.”

“I got you,” Jongin said as he disappeared into the closet. He came out with a soft, worn in high school sweater, fleece sweats and three pairs of fuzzy Christmas themed socks. He handed the clothes over to Kyungsoo and kept a pair of socks for himself before turning around so the omega could change. The sweater was warm and comfy and it smelt so much of Jongin. It must have been the alpha’s favorite sweater because Kyungsoo could tell how often it was used. The sweats were a little too big on him and he had to roll them two times by the waist so that they weren’t falling off his hips. The first pair of socks he slipped on were little fuzzy penguin socks and then the pair on top were cute bear socks that had a little bear tail pompom sticking out on his heel.

“I’m done,” Kyungsoo announced as he turned around and sat back down on the bed. Jongin was sitting on the other side facing the wall.

“Sit against the headboard,” Jongin said and Kyungsoo found himself listening, getting up to rest his back against the pillows and headboard. Jongin sat in front of him cross-legged and Kyungsoo inhaled sharply at their proximity. Jongin’s face was so close and the dim candle shadows danced across the bridge of his nose.

“We should change your bandage,” Jongin said. Kyungsoo lifted a hand to touch at his right cheek. He had been avoiding mirrors throughout the past four days not wanting to remember what had happened in the cafeteria. He had almost even forgotten about the new scratch on his face but Jongin reminded him and he felt ashamed again. He felt ugly again.

The alpha grabbed the plastic baggy he brought from the kitchen off of his nightstand and pulled out a new band-aid and some ointment.

“Can I?” Jongin asked as he gestured towards Kyungsoo’s cheek. Kyungsoo felt scared all of a sudden and he shook his head, backing up against the headboard. He didn’t want Jongin to see his ugliness.

“No,” Kyungsoo said as he shook his head again. He didn’t want to see the disappointment on Jongin’s face when a new scar decorated his skin. Jongin dropped his hands but he scooted a bit closer.

“It’s okay, Kyungsoo,” he said softly and quietly. “I won’t hurt you. We should really change it though.”

“Please don’t,” Kyungsoo whispered. He could feel his eyes begin to sting with tears and he tried his best to keep them at bay. He blinked though and he could feel them begin to fall and he tipped his head down. He hated it. He hated that he was always so weak when it came to his face. He didn’t want to cry, not in front of Jongin but it had ended up happening anyways.

Large hands cupped his face and tilted it upwards and thumbed away the tears that had fallen. Jongin’s thumb ran over the bump of his old scar and his rough band-aid but he didn’t flinch or looked disgusted.

“It’s okay to cry, Kyungsoo,” he whispered. “You can cry if you need to. I won’t say anything.” Kyungsoo blinked again and a few more tears dropped down his face, stopped by Jongin’s thumb as the alpha wiped them away. His heart was thumping hard in his hollow chest and he felt like his breath was caught in the back of his throat and he gently shook his head, Jongin’s hands falling off his face. He inhaled quickly and Jongin rubbed his shoulders. Kyungsoo forced the tears to stop right then and he took in another shaky breath. They sat in silence for a few seconds as Kyungsoo calmed himself.

“I’m going to change your band-aid now,” Jongin said gently. “It might sting.” Kyungsoo sat still as Jongin peeled off the old bandage, not even flinching although it did burn as it was being peeled off. Jongin ripped open an alcohol pad and cleaned his cheek before squeezing a drop of the ointment onto his fingertip and smoothing it over Kyungsoo’s skin. Then he placed the band-aid on top and smoothed it down.

“Is it bad?” Kyungsoo’s voice wobbled as he touched the new band-aid.

“No,” Jongin shook his head. “I don’t think it’ll leave a scar at all.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo whispered, hating how hopeful he sounded. He didn’t want to return home one day and disappoint his mother once more.

“The nurse said that the cut wasn’t that deep, there was just a lot of blood,” Jongin explained. “If we take care of it well, it shouldn’t scar.”

“It’s cold,” Kyungsoo said suddenly, wrapping his arms around his chest and letting out a shudder.

“We can go to bed then,” Jongin nodded getting off the bed and lifting up a corner of their blankets. Kyungsoo tucked himself underneath the blankets, curling in on himself to keep warm. Jongin closed the bedroom door and then got underneath the covers too. They were facing each other, the darkness of the night hiding their faces.

“I’m not tired,” Kyungsoo whispered, even though there was no need to. He felt like if he talked loudly though, the peacefulness of the moment would be ruined.

“Me too,” Jongin whispered back, a smile in his voice.

“What did you learn in history today?” Kyungsoo asked about the one class they shared together.

“We got to the Civil Rights movement,” Jongin told him. “It’s really interesting. I actually wasn’t falling asleep during the lecture.”

“You sleep during the lectures?” Kyungsoo asked him.

“It’s why I sit in the back,” Jongin chuckled. “Eight A.M.’s suck. Next semester my earliest class is at ten.”

“I still have an eight A.M.” Kyungsoo pouted. He wasn’t a fan of morning classes either but he was stuck with them for another semester. “But I’m done by one, which is also nice.”

“I go till four,” Jongin told him.

“That’s not too bad,” Kyungsoo said. It was quiet again and Kyungsoo closed his eyes. He felt Jongin shuffle a bit closer to him and he opened them again. Jongin’s hand rested on the omega’s cheek and he stroked the band-aid and smooth skin around it. Normally Kyungsoo would feel uncomfortable with this skin-ship but there was just something about Jongin that felt okay.

“Does it hurt?” Jongin asked him, concerned as his thumb pressed down gently.

“Not anymore,” Kyungsoo said. He rubbed his feet together and could feel Jongin’s body heat emanating towards him.

“Chanyeol’s going to apologize,” Jongin said, voice turning hard. “I’m going to make sure he gets on his knees and apologizes to you. I don’t care what happened but he shouldn’t have put a hand on you or anyone else no matter what. We were raised better than that.”

“You don’t have to make him do that,” Kyungsoo shook his head. He didn’t want to make any more wolves upset.

“He’s going to apologize,” Jongin insisted. “I’ll leave the pack if he doesn’t.”

 _Why?_ Kyungsoo wanted to cry out. _Why would you do that for me?_

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Jongin said hesitantly, moving forward again, “what happened _here_?” Jongin’s other hand went to cup at Kyungsoo’s permanently scarred cheek his fingers running gently over the two bump scars that traced up his cheek to his eyes. The omega closed his eyes as Jongin’s fingers trailed over his eyelids and back down. When Jongin was done, his palms cupping Kyungsoo’s face gently, he opened his eyes again.

“My uncle attacked me when I was three,” Kyungsoo said quietly. He felt like telling Jongin his story, because maybe Jongin really was different. Maybe Jongin could be a wolf he could trust. “My dad exiled him from the pack and he wanted revenge and the best to way to do that was to hurt me. He made me ugly and he ruined my life and my family.”

“Oh Kyungsoo,” Jongin whispered, his voice carrying some hurt in it. “You aren’t ugly. Don’t believe that.”

“It’s hard to not believe that when it’s all you hear every single day for fourteen years,” Kyungsoo said back, keeping his tone even. He was used to it. He believed in it because it was true. “Not even my mother can look at me. Baekhyun and Sehun tell me that I’m not ugly but just look at me Jongin. I have two awful scars running down my face. It’s definitely not beautiful so it must be ugly. I hate my face Jongin. Sometimes I wish my uncle would’ve killed me that night so I wouldn’t have to live with this face.” The omega brought his hand to his face, removing Jongin’s in the process, before roughly running it down the left side of his face. Jongin caught his wrist and pulled it away.

“You’re not ugly, Kyungsoo,” Jongin told him again. “They’re all fucking wrong. They’re all going to fucking pay for what they’ve done to you and all the hurt that you’ve endured. I sat back and watched for three months but I can’t do that anymore. I won’t let anyone hurt you anymore. You don’t deserve that. You deserve so much better than that.”

“Why are you so nice to me?” Kyungsoo’s voice broke as he questioned the alpha. “Why are you doing this for me? You didn’t have to follow me out of the cafeteria. You didn’t have to let me stay here with you. You didn’t have to say all those nice things to me.”

“It’s because-” the alpha started before stopping for a moment to take in a breath. “It’s because I like you Do Kyungsoo. I like you a lot. From the moment I saw your full face for the first time I thought you were the most beautiful thing in the entire universe.”

“How could you think that?” Kyungsoo questioned hoarsely. “How could you see this,” he gestured to his face, “and think that it’s beautiful?”

“How could I not?” Jongin whispered in wonderment as he moved closer and pressed his head against Kyungsoo’s. “You have the clearest, widest eyes that I’ve ever seen. Brown eyes are common but there’s just something about yours that makes me want to stare into them forever. Your nose is so cute. I just want to nuzzle it and kiss it. Your mouth. Your mouth is so plump and perfect and you do things with it that drive me crazy. You’re so reserved Kyungsoo but your eyes and your lips are so expressive when you don’t realize it. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“But my scars-”

“Don’t define you,” Jongin finished for him. “You are not just your scars and they’re not ugly. They tell a story, a painful story but it’s yours. I saw those scars and you know what I thought? I didn’t think they were ugly. I thought they showed how strong you are. You went through a traumatizing situation when you were younger and people gave you shit your entire life but you’re still here and you’re still trying your best and I think that takes so much strength and courage and I admire you so much for that. All those other people who make fun of you and are mean to you, they’re just jealous. They know they wouldn’t be able to handle living your life and that makes them weaker than you. So they try to make you weaker than them by bringing you down. It’s easy to let that happen but I won’t let that happen to you anymore. I won’t let anyone hurt you anymore.”

“Jongin-” Kyungsoo breathed out.

“I like you,” Jongin repeated breathlessly. “I know it’s probably scary for you to hear but I like you. I want to hold your hand even when it’s warm outside. I want to hug you in the quad and take naps with you on the grass. I want you to pinch my nose when I’m procrastinating and reward me with kisses when I do well in class. I just really like you and I want to do all these things with you.”

“Jongin, you don’t know what you’re saying,” Kyungsoo whispered back, shaking his head. The handsome alpha couldn’t like _him_. He was nothing special. Jongin couldn’t like him.

“I know exactly what I’m saying,” Jongin said firmly. “I really, really, really like you Do Kyungsoo and I hope one day you really, really like me too.”

“I’m tired,” Kyungsoo said moving his head down and away from Jongin’s. “I want to go to sleep now.”

“Sleep then,” Jongin said with a sigh. “I’ll be here in the morning when you wake up.” Kyungsoo didn’t answer, closing his eyes instead and trying to fall asleep.

“Are you warm?” Jongin asked a few minutes later, just as Kyungsoo was drifting off. Kyungsoo hummed back. He and Jongin weren’t touching anymore but he could still feel the alpha’s body heat radiating throughout their little blanket cocoon. Jongin’s thick scent was wrapping around him too and he felt himself falling deeply into one of the most comfortable sleeps of his life.

When Kyungsoo woke up the next morning, it was to the bright sunbeams reflecting off the white snow and shining through the cracks of Jongin’s closed blinds. He groaned a little, shifting in his sleep and listened for the sound of the heater but he didn’t hear anything. It must have still been broken. But why did he feel so warm then? His eyelids flickered open and he was greeted with the sight of Jongin’s stubble on the bottom of his chin. He blinked a bit and realized that he was lying on Jongin’s chest. Their legs were tangled together, Kyungsoo’s toes tucked in between Jongin’s thighs. Jongin’s arms were loosely wrapped around his upper body and Kyungsoo’s hand was resting on the alpha’s waist. If it were anyone else, Kyungsoo would’ve flinched away but something about Jongin just felt safe and Kyungsoo hadn’t felt safe like this in a long time, at least not in the presence of another wolf. He let himself indulge and snuggled closer to Jongin.

“Comfortable?” the alpha’s deep morning voice asked.

“You’re warm,” Kyungsoo responded quietly. He felt a little embarrassed to be clingy towards Jongin but he liked it. It was something new for him but he really liked it. Jongin twisted his body to grab his phone.

“Classes are canceled today,” he read off an email. “And they’re working on the heater right now.”

“You really like me?” Kyungsoo asked all of a sudden, remembering everything that happened last night. He felt his face grow warm at the thought and his stomach lurched.

“Yes,” Jongin chuckled, “I really like you.”

“I-” Kyungsoo looked up to see Jongin’s deep blue eyes, “I think I might like you too,” he said so quietly, like it was the most precious secret he held in his heart. Jongin felt safe. He felt warm and he felt right and Kyungsoo was going to take this chance. It was scary but he was going to try. He thought he had felt something with Jongin in the rose lounge all those weeks ago and maybe it was real.

“So this is okay?” Jongin asked, a soft smile on his face as he gently squeezed Kyungsoo’s waist.

“This is okay,” Kyungsoo confirmed with a nod as he rested against Jongin.

They spent the rest of the day and Saturday getting to know each other and lazing around the apartment. The power and the heat went on at around noon and they were able to heat up leftovers. Kyungsoo thought it would be hard for him to be touchy around Jongin but something about it just felt so natural to him. If something felt too much then Jongin would give him some space but the alpha also pushed him to some new boundaries and Kyungsoo was thankful for that too.

“Can I call you my boyfriend?” Jongin asked as they sat on the couch with a holiday movie playing. Jongin had one arm wrapped around Kyungsoo’s waist and the other was trailing up the omega’s arm and caressing his skin.

“Boyfriend?” Kyungsoo repeated, turning his head to face the alpha.

“Sorry,” Jongin shook his head, “too fast?”

“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo sighed, leaning back against Jongin’s chest. “I barely had any friends before today and now I have a _boyfriend_.”

“Feels weird huh?” Jongin smiled, intertwining their fingers together and squeezing tightly. “I’ve never had a boyfriend either. I was waiting for the right person.”

“You really think it’s me?” Kyungsoo asked, feeling his insecurities sink in again.

“It’s you,” Jongin nodded. “It’s always going to be you. It feels kind of fast but I just know it Kyungsoo. I just know that it’s you.”

“People are going to talk bad about you and me,” Kyungsoo realized. An ugly omega with one of the most handsome alphas in the whole country. It was the perfect recipe for rumors and gossip.

“They will,” Jongin hummed, “but they don’t matter. It’s just you and me in this relationship.”

“Will your parents be disappointed?” Kyungsoo asked worriedly. He knew the Kim’s were a very high profile family with a reputation to uphold. They were expecting only the best for Jongin.

“If they’re disappointed then I’ll be disappointed in them,” Jongin said.

“Everyone always told me that I would be alone forever,” Kyungsoo confessed. “That no sane alpha wanted an ugly omega so I never even thought about getting into a relationship. It still feels like a dream that I’m right here with you.”

“Stop calling yourself ugly,” Jongin pouted. “You’re so beautiful. I’m so lucky that you gave me a chance.”

“I’m the lucky one,” Kyungsoo shook his head. “You’re the one who gave me a chance.”

 

 

-

 

 

 

“What the fuck is this?” Baekhyun nearly screamed as he walked into living room Sunday afternoon after his suspension had been lifted.

Jongin was lying down on the couch, Kyungsoo sprawled on top of him as the ending credits of Guardians of the Galaxy rolled on the TV screen.

“He’s so loud,” Kyungsoo groaned, burying his head into Jongin’s chest. It had only been two days since they started ‘dating’ but they had grown considerably closer to each other. Kyungsoo found himself talking to Jongin about everything and anything and his feelings for the alpha grew with each passing second. Jongin was just so sweet but also incredibly silly. He was clingy and cuddly like a pup still but also big, warm, and safe and Kyungsoo felt so soothed and comforted by the alpha.

Baekhyun rolled up a packet of papers on the coffee table and began to smack Kyungsoo’s butt with it.

“Some-one-tell-me-what-is-go-ing-on!” the human demanded, emphasizing each syllable with another smack to Kyungsoo’s butt.

“Stop that,” Jongin said, taking his hands to cover Kyungsoo’s butt, Baekhyun’s paper weapon hitting the back of his hands instead. Kyungsoo blushed at Jongin’s hands protecting him and snuggled even closer into Jongin.

“Get your filthy hands off of my Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun said smacking Jongin’s hands hard.

“ _My_ Kyungsoo,” Jongin decided to be sweet as he cooed into Kyungsoo’s head and nuzzled against the omega’s soft hair. Kyungsoo fought back a squeal and curled up his toes instead. Never would he think he would ever be in such a lovey dovey situation like this. It gave his heart and stomach the flutters and he just felt good and giddy.

“Okay what type of painkillers did that nurse subscribe him?” Baekhyun asked, mouth pursed in concern now. “And how many of them did you give him? Usually they only prescribe enough for two days. How high is he off of painkillers? What did you do to him Kim Jongin?” he held out his paper roll again but this time at Jongin’s face.

“I’m fine Baek,” Kyungsoo groaned, sitting up and sliding off of Jongin’s body. “I just-We just-I have a boyfriend now,” he found himself smiling as he said it out loud. “Jongin is my boyfriend now.”

“Shut. Up.” Baekhyun said smacking Kyungsoo’s shoulder with the paper roll.

“It’s true,” Kyungsoo replied, rubbing his shoulder. “Jongin’s my boyfriend.” The smile on his face was so wide he felt like his cheeks were going to explode. It was starting to feel real now, the fact that Jongin was his boyfriend.

“How in the hell did that happen?” Baekhyun raged as he looked from Kyungsoo to his roommate.

“He took really good care of me after the accident,” Kyungsoo said, “and then he confessed and now I’m his boyfriend.”

“I’m kicked out of campus for a fucking week and now my awkward roommate and my antisocial best friend are dating,” Baekhyun stated in disbelief. “I don’t believe it.”

“Hey I’m not awkward,” Jongin piped up standing up and resting his chin on Kyungsoo’s shoulder.

“Pup, you’re the most awkward alpha I’ve ever met in my life,” Baekhyun shook his head. “You’re lucky you’re handsome. But what the fuck Kyungsoo? You’re dating another wolf? I thought we both agreed that all wolves were fucking trash-no offense Jongin.”

“I’m lowkey offended but I understand what you mean,” Jongin nodded. “But I’m not like them. I would never ever hurt Kyungsoo, not intentionally at least.”

“You believe him, Kyungsoo?” Baekhyun asked the omega, an eyebrow quirked up.

“I do,” Kyungsoo nodded. “I don’t know what’s going to happen but I want to try this.”

“I fucked Park Chanyeol up so I’m not afraid to fuck you up either,” Baekhyun warned Jongin as he went to sit down on the couch.

“What happened?” Kyungsoo asked sitting next to the human and overlooking his face and hands to see if he was injured anywhere. Baekhyun shrugged away his worried hands.

“Park would be the biggest idiot in the world if he laid a hand on me,” Baekhyun said.

“Jongin said they called security on you two,” Kyungsoo said. “What did you do to him?”

“I just let him know that he’s not going to ever touch you or Sehun or any of my friends ever again,” Baekhyun answered.

“Sehun said he knew Chanyeol’s secret,” Kyungsoo remembered. It had been enough to get the alpha riled up and Kyungsoo wondered just how bad the secret was. “How does Sehun know Chanyeol’s secret. Do you know what it is?”

“I don’t know,” Jongin answered, with a shake of his head. “Chanyeol and I are close but he doesn’t share that stuff with me. I don’t know what he could be hiding that would be such a big deal.”

“How does Sehun know then?” Kyungsoo asked. Sehun and Chanyeol were definitely not friends or even acquaintances. They didn’t have the same major or same classes and Kyungsoo had thought that they had never even met before. It was weird that Sehun would know anything personal about Chanyeol.

“It’s me,” Baekhyun said quietly, his hands folded together and his face looking a little paler. Just moments ago Baekhyun was still his normal, rambunctious self but now he looked conflicted.

“What about you?” Jongin asked. Baekhyun took in a deep breath and ruffled his hair up.

“I’m Chanyeol’s secret,” he confessed.

“What?” Kyungsoo asked in confusion, his eyebrows furrowing up and his nose wrinkling. “ _You’re_ Chanyeol’s secret? What does that even mean?”

“It means that me and Park have been secretly fucking for the past year and a half,” Baekhyun said blankly.

“Wait, you’re sleeping with Chanyeol?” Jongin asked in shock, his eyes growing wide.

“I _was_ sleeping with him,” Baekhyun corrected. “I left him like a month ago.”

“How did you hide the fact that you were sleeping with an alpha?” Jongin asked. Baekhyun should’ve smelt like Chanyeol but not once did Jongin have any suspicions and he took pride in his nose. Kyungsoo should’ve been able to smell it too.

“Scent wash,” Baekhyun grimaced. “Chanyeol always made me use it before I left.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kyungsoo asked, voice sounding a little hurt.

“Why would I want people knowing I was an alpha’s dirty little secret?” Baekhyun replied, shrugging his shoulders. “Sehun only found out because I got drunk and couldn’t keep it in anymore.”

“Chanyeol’s been sleeping with a human,” Jongin stated in disbelief. Kyungsoo was still in shock too. An alpha of Chanyeol’s status was expected to marry an omega with the same status. If it got out that he had been with a human, it wouldn’t look so good for his family.

“The whole thing was dumb anyways,” Baekhyun sniffled. “I was dumb. He was dumb. It’s over now. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“It sounds like it matters,” Kyungsoo said softly, holding Baekhyun’s hand. He knew when his tough Baekhyun was vulnerable. “Did you like him Baekhyun?”

“Does it matter if I did?” Baekhyun asked. “It wasn’t possible anyways. Chanyeol was looking for fun and he got what he wanted.”

“He’s an idiot, Baek,” Kyungsoo told him. “He had you and he let you go all because of his dumb alpha pride. He’s missing out. You’re so wonderful Baek. He messed up and he knows it.”

“Alpha’s ain’t shit,” Baekhyun sniffled as he leaned on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “Jongin needs to prove us wrong.”

“I will,” Jongin promised. “Chanyeol’s an idiot. You can do better than him Baekhyun. He’s lame anyways.”

“Sehun has been going crazy waiting for updates about you,” Baekhyun told Kyungsoo, hugging his friend tight. “I told him not to worry and that you were okay but you know him.”

“I guess I should go back tonight,” Kyungsoo sighed. “Classes start again for me tomorrow.”

“Do you have to leave?” Jongin whined, wrapping himself around Kyungsoo too.

“Eew,” Baekhyun sneered looking at the two of them. “You guys are in your honeymoon stage.”

“Let us be cute,” Jongin said. Kyungsoo smiled and patted Jongin’s hands.

“Well I’ll let you be cute in private,” Baekhyun said getting up. “I need a nap or something.” The human walked down the hallway and Kyungsoo suddenly remembered that Baekhyun’s bed was pretty much bare.

“Baek wait-”

“Where the fuck are my blankets?”

 

 

-

 

As expected, Sehun hovered over Kyungsoo the moment he stepped into the apartment. Jongin had walked him home and they had held hands and took their time in the snow. It was still cold outside so there were very few people out and about and the people who were out were in a hurry to get into a warm building. Jongin had hugged him in front of the doors and Kyungsoo hadn’t wanted the alpha to leave but they eventually said their goodbyes.

Sehun asked Kyungsoo nonstop questions about where he stayed and if his cheek was okay and Kyungsoo answered them patiently. Sehun looked like a chic nonchalant city boy but really his heart was so deep and warm and he was so loyal. Kyungsoo was so happy that the human had been his roommate during freshmen year.

“Your phone has been getting nonstop messages too,” the human held up the omega’s smartphone. “I think it’s your brother. It didn’t seem like it was urgent or anything so I didn’t call him back.” Kyungsoo had entirely forgotten that Seungsoo wanted to meet up with him again soon. He opened the last voicemail he had received and his brother’s deep voice filled the speakers.

“ _I don’t know why you’re not picking up any of my calls or replying to my messages but I’m going to be in town on Monday. I have a reservation at the Big Bowl down on 9 th street at noon and I’m expecting that you’re there otherwise I’m coming back to campus and dragging you down there. I’ll see you then Kyungsoo_.” The message clipped and Kyungsoo could see Sehun frowning.

“He sounds mean,” Sehun said.

“That’s just how he always sounds like,” Kyungsoo sighed. There was no getting out of this arrangement.

“I have an exam tomorrow at noon,” Sehun told him. “It was supposed to be on Friday but it got moved because classes were canceled. I told you I was going with you but-”

“Sehun your exam is more important,” Kyungsoo knocked him on the head lightly. “I’ll be okay. It’s just my brother.”

“Just text me when you get there,” Sehun said. “And if you’re ever uncomfortable just bolt it.”

“Sehun you care too much,” Kyungsoo smiled patting his head.

“It’s a good thing,” Sehun praised himself with a small chuckle.

 

Kyungsoo took a cab down to the Big Bowl, Jongin’s scarf wrapped around his neck and his hands tucked into a pair of warm gloves. They had seen each other before the start of history class but they hadn’t sat next to each other, not sure if they were ready to make their relationship public that quickly. After class, Jongin had walked Kyungsoo all the way to his cab and given him his scarf with a quick, spontaneous kiss to the forehead. They had both blushed after that but Jongin told him to call him after the lunch.

“Reservation for Do Seungsoo,” Kyungsoo said at the front. The waitress was a human and she lead him to a private table in the back.

“Anything to drink?” she asked as he shed his winter layers but kept the scarf on.

“Just water for now,” he answered. She left and he pulled out his phone texting a quick _I’m here_ message to Seungsoo. Then he pulled up his chat log with Jongin and smiled as he reread the good morning messages they had sent each other. His heart felt giddy as he scrolled and he couldn’t control his happiness.

“Why do you smell like that?” Seungsoo’s voice interrupted his moment and he quickly stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

“Like what?” he asked as Seungsoo sat down across from him. His brother looked annoyed already and Kyungsoo had to watch himself now.

“Like an alpha,” Seungsoo scowled. “Bring me a glass of moscato,” he gestured towards a waiter who walked by. The waiter nodded and scurried away.

“I have class with other wolves,” Kyungsoo half lied.

“They let alphas and omegas sit together in that university of yours?” Seungsoo questioned in distaste.

“Humans too,” Kyungsoo added as a one sided jab.

“I don’t know why mom and dad let you attend that university,” Seungsoo shook his head. “If it were up to me, you would’ve attended that private all omega university forty-five minutes away from home. You don’t need to be fraternizing with alphas and humans when you could be safe closer near home.”

“You know exactly why they let me go,” Kyungsoo mumbled underneath his breath. They wanted him gone but he couldn’t be dead. He didn’t understand why Seungsoo cared for his safety now.

“What happened to your face?” Seungsoo said suddenly, his annoyed tone hardening with anger. Kyungsoo touched the band-aid. He had forgotten about it once again.

“It’s just a scratch,” he said hurriedly, not wanting Seungsoo to get worked up about it.

“Who scratched you?” Seungsoo demanded to know.

“It wasn’t a big deal Seungsoo,” Kyungsoo replied. “It was an accident.”

“Kyungsoo,” Seungsoo commanded, his voice like gravel, “Who scratched you?”

“Park Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo answered quietly, looking down at the table.

“He’ll be hearing from me very soon then,” Seungsoo said the threat not hidden at all.

“Who will be hearing from you soon?” A sweet female voice filled the air along with a rosewater scent. There was the sound of tapping on the floor and Seungsoo’s face softened as he stood up and helped the pretty omega down into her seat. She must have been Seungsoo’s fiancée and she was-she was blind. Her brown eyes were clouded and her gaze wasn’t quite focused even though her pretty smile was. She was wearing a pretty floral dress and a line of pearls around her neck.

“Nobody sweetheart,” Seungsoo said as he took her hand and squeezed it tightly. “Kyungsoo and I were just talking.”

“Seungsoo, you know I don’t like you lying to me,” she frowned as she pulled her hand away.

“We’ll talk about it later babe,” Seungsoo said reaching for her hand again.

“Look at us,” the female omega shook her head in disbelief. “It’s my first time meeting your brother and we’re getting into a little argument. Hello Kyungsoo. I’m Yina, Seungsoo’s fiancée,” she held out her hand and Kyungsoo shook it carefully. He was still in shock that Seungsoo was actually engaged to a blind omega. In their pack, a disabled omega was just as ‘bad’ and maybe even worse than an ugly omega. And Seungsoo who probably cared the most about his reputation in the entire world was in love with a blind omega.

“Kyungsoo,” he repeated his name.

“Seungsoo you told me your brother was an omega,” Yina turned towards him. “He smells like an alpha though.”

“He’s an omega,” Seungsoo nodded. “I don’t know why he smells so strongly of alpha either,” he frowned.

“Kyungsoo, do you have a boyfriend?” Yina leaned forward with a teasing smile on her face.

“He doesn’t,” Seungsoo said, shooting the idea down quickly.

“I asked Kyungsoo not you,” Yina said, pinching Seungsoo’s shoulder. Kyungsoo felt his face burn under both of their gazes but he was rescued by the waiter bringing in Seungsoo’s wine.

“A glass of iced tea for my fiancée,” Seungsoo told the waiter. Yina pinched him again. “Please,” he added afterwards.

“That’s better,” Yina smiled at him. If Kyungsoo hadn’t learned how to have self-control in front of his brother all those years ago, he would’ve dropped his jaw at what he was seeing. Seungsoo was completely whipped by his fiancée. He never thought a day would come where he would see his brother being so incredibly sweet and kind.

Lunch went by better than Kyungsoo expected. Yina was incredibly outspoken but also very nice and she made Kyungsoo talk to her and they had conversations mostly about his coursework. Kyungsoo paid close attention to Seungsoo and he could see just how smitten his brother was with the omega. He had honey oozing out of his gaze as he looked at her and he was always holding her hand or trying to feed her food.

“Seungsoo, I’m not a baby,” Yina complained as the alpha tried to wipe pasta sauce off her mouth.

“Yes you are,” Seungsoo smiled, “You’re my baby,” he ruffled her hair before kissing her cheek.

“Kyungsoo, probably thinks we’re being super gross,” Yina said.

“Oh wait,” Seungsoo moved away from Yina. “We have to discuss wedding details with him. Kyungsoo, I want you to be my best man.” Kyungsoo set down his fork.

“Seungsoo, I’m not coming home for break,” he told his brother again. “Baekhyun already bought my ski resort ticket.”

“But I’m getting married,” Seungsoo said, his jaw hardening. “Can’t you just do this one thing for me? I want you there.”

“I don’t even understand why you want me as your best man,” Kyungsoo shook his head. “You have closer friends who can do it for you and mom would never even let me show my face there.”

“You think I’m letting mom have a say in my wedding?” Seungsoo questioned him.

“You never stopped her from having a say in anything else,” Kyungsoo shot back quickly. It was unlike him to talk back to Seungsoo and the alpha’s face tensed up quickly, his fist clenching. Yina seemed to sense the tension and she held his shoulder, trying to soothe him.

“It’s okay, Seungsoo,” she whispered into his ear, nuzzling against his cheek. “Just calm down. It’s okay.”

“You are coming to my wedding, Kyungsoo,” Seungsoo closed his eyes and breathed out. “I don’t care if I have to drag you from the ski resort with your skis on. You’re going to be in my wedding and no one, not even mom and dad can stop that.”

“I don’t get you,” Kyungsoo said, his eyes watering from the situation. “You never cared before so why now?”

“Maybe I want to change things,” Seungsoo said, opening his eyes. “Maybe because I don’t want to lose you more than I already have.”

 

“Seungsoo, go get us some coffee,” Yina commanded after they finished lunch. They were walking in nearby park before dropping Kyungsoo off back on campus in time for his late afternoon class. The alpha nodded and disappeared into a small coffee shop.

“Kyungsoo hold my arm,” Yina asked as she held an arm out to him. “It’s easier than using the cane.” Kyungsoo held on to her and they began to stroll around the empty park. White lights had been hung up on the bare trees but since it was still daytime they didn’t glow. Some workers were beginning to set up the temporary ice rink too.

“You’re a lot quieter than Seungsoo,” Yina commented.

“Sorry,” Kyungsoo apologized. He wasn’t good with new people, especially not wolves.

“Don’t apologize,” Yina said brightly. “It’s nice not to hear Seungsoo blabbing nonstop sometimes.”

“It’s weird to think of Seungsoo as talkative,” Kyungsoo said. The Seungsoo he knew was quiet just like him but in a broodier way rather than shy way.

“He can’t shut up sometimes,” Yina shook her head but she had a fond look on her face. “He’s such a dork.” Kyungsoo couldn’t agree. He couldn’t imagine Seungsoo as anything bright or fun.

“He’s different now,” Yina said, sensing his discomfort. “I know it’s hard to believe but Seungsoo is different now. He’s trying really hard to change.” Kyungsoo didn’t respond, not knowing how to.

“We met at the clinic,” Yina began to tell their story. “Seungsoo was there for a board meeting and I was a volunteer there. I played piano in the children’s waiting room. He ran into me on my way out of the bathroom and I guess for him it was love at first sight,” she smiled fondly, as if it were a precious memory. “I yelled at him for being so careless in a hospital and that idiot asked me out on a date. I think I stomped on his foot with my cane,” she laughed. “But he deserved it. He came in every day demanding a date. He was hardheaded, stubborn, and impatient but I could tell underneath that roughness he was hiding something. He was hiding loneliness. So I indulged him in a date and I guess things just took off there. He’s so much gentler behind closed doors. He just wanted love I think. He wanted someone who wouldn’t judge him by his status and just let him be.”

“How long have you guys known each other?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Seven months,” Yina answered. Kyungsoo’s eyes bulged.        

“It’s not long, I know,” Yina smiled. “But he’s the one. I can tell. He’s a difficult hothead but he’s going to be my difficult hothead.”

“What-what does my mother think?” Kyungsoo dared to ask. Knowing her, she must not have been happy when Seungsoo brought Yina home.

“She doesn’t like me,” Yina frowned. “She and Seungsoo got into a really bad fight when he first introduced me. She threatened to cut off his inheritance and disown him but he fought back. That’s when I knew that he was serious about me. Seungsoo isn’t the type of person to fool around with his business like that.”

“My father?” Kyungsoo asked.

“He didn’t really have a reaction,” Yina said. “He told Seungsoo he could do whatever he wanted as long as he didn’t get distracted.”

“And so you guys are getting married,” Kyungsoo said.

“He really wants you at our wedding,” Yina said softly. “It would mean the world to both of us if you were there.”

“Maybe to you but I’m pretty sure Seungsoo’s just doing it to make you happy,” Kyungsoo tried to stop himself from scoffing.

“He loves you Kyungsoo,” Yina told him faintly. “I know it’s difficult to believe. He’s told me about how he treated you when you were younger, about how everyone treated you but he regrets it. He regrets it so much. He really does care Kyungsoo. He wants to make everything up to you. It doesn’t mean much coming from me. I know it has to come from him but please, give him a chance. He’s really trying. He just doesn’t know how to sometimes.”

“My friend already bought my ticket to the resort,” Kyungsoo said. It had been fourteen years since he and Seungsoo had a proper relationship. He didn’t know how they were supposed to start now. Too much had not happened between them.

“Please consider it,” Yina asked. Kyungsoo didn’t reply. He never made promises he couldn’t keep.

“Enough about me and Seungsoo though,” Yina shook her head, quickly changing the topic. “I know you slyly dodged that alpha question earlier but I got you all alone now without your scary, protective big brother. You can tell me if you’re seeing someone. I won’t tell Seungsoo, I promise! It’ll be our first little secret together.” She squeezed his arm comfortingly and sent him another smile.

“I’m not seeing anyone,” Kyungsoo mumbled, although he did think about Jongin. The only person who knew so far was Baekhyun and he didn’t feel comfortable enough around Yina to tell her about it. They had only met today and he didn’t know if she really would keep it a secret from Seungsoo. His brother would go berserk if he found out that Kyungsoo was seeing someone.

“Ahh okay,” Yina said understandingly. “One day we’ll be close enough and you’ll tell me everything.”

           

“How was it?” Jongin asked when he opened the door for Kyungsoo. After Seungsoo had dropped him off, with another reminder that he was the best man for the wedding, the omega had walked straight to Jongin and Baekhyun’s apartment. The human was still in his afternoon art class but Jongin was already done for the day.

Kyungsoo had the overwhelming urge to walk into Jongin’s arms and just bury himself into the alpha’s warmth but it might have been too much so he folded his arms across his chest.

“Can I hug you?” he asked instead. Jongin looked a little taken back but he nodded his head and held out his arms. Kyungsoo walked right into them and Jongin wrapped his arms around the omega’s body.

“Was it that bad?” Jongin asked, nosing into Kyungsoo’s hair. “Was he being mean to you?”

“He was kind of nice,” Kyungsoo said, inhaling Jongin’s comforting scent. “It was confusing.”

“Isn’t it a good thing that he’s being nice?” Jongin asked.

“I don’t know anymore,” Kyungsoo said. “They could smell you on me.”

“He’s not out for my blood, is he?” Jongin joked.

“If he finds out we’re dating, he might be,” Kyungsoo said honestly.

“I could take him,” Jongin laughed confidently.

“He wants me to be his best man at the wedding,” Kyungsoo continued to talk. “But I don’t want to go back and see all those people. I don’t want to go back and feel ugly again,” he said his voice growing small.

“Should I go with you?” Jongin asked, looking down at Kyungsoo. “We can show all those people just how beautiful you are.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea Jongin,” Kyungsoo shook his head.

“Your parents couldn’t reject me,” Jongin said. “My blood is just as good as yours. If they’re looking for someone worthy to protect you and take care of you, it doesn’t get any better than me.”

“I’ll think about it,” Kyungsoo nodded. It made him nervous, the thought of his parents and everyone else meeting Jongin and then talking about how sad they felt for Jongin, for being stuck with someone like him.

“Can I hold your hand tomorrow on the way to class?” Jongin asked rather innocently.

“Are you okay with that?” Kyungsoo asked, his eyes growing wide again. Were they really ready to make their relationship public? It had only been a few days.

“I’m not ashamed of you Kyungsoo,” Jongin said firmly. “I want the entire world to know that I’m dating the most beautiful, precious omega in the entire world.” He squeezed Kyungsoo against him tightly.

“We can hold hands,” Kyungsoo nodded, feeling shy all of a sudden. They had held hands before and they even slept in the same bed and hugged but it still all felt new to the omega.

“And we can hug and cuddle and maybe someday,” Jongin’s voice dropped to a playful whisper, “we can even kiss.” Kyungsoo’s face turned pink at that. He never thought that anyone would want to kiss him before.

“I’d like that,” he nodded again, before hiding his face in Jongin’s neck.

 

\--

 

 

The weekend before winter break was due to start, Kyungsoo and Jongin were lounging on the couch again, scrolling through Jongin’s iPad and looking at pictures of tropical islands. It had been a cold winter and what started out as silly wishes for warm weather became the two of them curled up and planning their dream vacation.

It had been a few weeks since they had began dating and Kyungsoo was madly infatuated with Jongin. The initial hesitance and awkwardness had grown into complete trust and reassurance. Kyungsoo loved being cuddled up in Jongin’s arms and spending late weekend nights whispering cute things to each other before falling asleep. He loved waking up in the morning with Jongin’s stubble tickling his skin and their bodies pressed so close to each other. Jongin was such a sweetheart and Kyungsoo’s heart just oozed with feelings each time he saw the alpha and his boyish grin and playful eyes. They had even started kissing and Kyungsoo liked it so much. He wanted to spend hours just wrapped up in Jongin’s arms and kissing the handsome alpha breathless.

The best part of their relationship though was that Kyungsoo was starting to believe Jongin when the alpha told him that he was beautiful. It was hard not to believe Jongin when the alpha looked at him like he was the universe’s most precious gift. Every single day Jongin told him that he was beautiful and then he would gently kiss his way up Kyungsoo’s scars and his eyelid before asking for a peck on the lips. Jongin was always bold with his actions and he wasn’t shy about asking for kisses, hugs, and other acts of skinship. Kyungsoo had been denied of this type of physical contact for so long but it now felt natural with Jongin and he looked forward to every day with his boyfriend.

“Oh Fiji looks beautiful,” Jongin sighed as he scrolled through some pictures. Kyungsoo was seated in his lap and his chin was hooked over the omega’s shoulder.

“The water looks emerald,” Kyungsoo said as he leaned his head on top of Jongin’s and began to stroke his soft, blonde locks. Jongin hummed in content as he closed his eyes and let Kyungsoo massage his scalp.

“We should go for spring break,” Jongin said. “It’ll be fun.”

“Let’s get through winter break first before we begin planning spring break,” Kyungsoo reminded him. Kyungsoo was going to Seungsoo’s wedding but Jongin was tagging along with him. The whole campus already knew they were dating and although the response hadn’t been so positive, Jongin had quickly shut everyone up when he had quit his university pack. He was serious about Kyungsoo and he wasn’t about to let anyone he had relations with talk badly about his omega.

After the wedding though, the two were set to join Baekhyun and Sehun at the ski resort for a week before returning back to campus and spending the rest of break together. Seungsoo had no idea that Kyungsoo was bringing home his boyfriend but Yina knew now. The female omega had been calling Kyungsoo twice a week just to keep in contact and Kyungsoo had really appreciated her initiative. They had become closer over the phone calls and Kyungsoo finally told her that Jongin was his boyfriend and was coming with him to the wedding. She had been excited and promised to be their biggest supporter and protector from Seungsoo’s wrath.

Jongin laid down on the couch and Kyungsoo fell on top of him comfortably, wrapping his arms around Jongin’s neck and kissing his cheek. Jongin laughed and pulled Kyungsoo closer to him. They hadn’t said the ‘love’ word yet, afraid that it was still too soon but Kyungsoo knew that what he felt for Jongin was so strong.

The front door bust open and Kyungsoo sat up at the suddenness. Baekhyun came running through, he was covering his face with his hands and he didn’t even acknowledge the two before going into his room and slamming the door closed. Kyungsoo and Jongin looked at each other in worry and confusion but then came the panicked knocking of the front door.

“Baekhyun, open the door!” Chanyeol’s frantic voice boomed through the wood. “Open the fucking door.”

“I’m going to go check on Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo said, getting off of Jongin. “You go deal with him,” he looked at the door. Chanyeol and Jongin had a minor falling out after his relationship with Kyungsoo went public and then Jongin had left the pack. Chanyeol hadn’t been negative about their relationship but he hadn’t been outright supportive either and Jongin had decided that it wasn’t enough.

“Baek?” Kyungsoo asked softly as he knocked on the human’s door. “Are you okay?” He heard some sniffles and a cough but Baekhyun didn’t directly answer.

“Can you let me in?” Kyungsoo asked. “Let’s talk Baek. I don’t want you to be alone.”

“Where is he?” Kyungsoo heard Chanyeol demand as Jongin let him in the apartment.

“Dude calm the fuck down,” Jongin said as he tried to restrain the other alpha. “What the fuck happened between you two?”

“I need to talk to him,” Chanyeol said desperately. “We need to talk.” Kyungsoo moved away from Baekhyun’s door and went to Jongin and Chanyeol.

“He’s not talking to you if he doesn’t want to,” the omega nearly spat towards the alpha. “I don’t know exactly what you’ve done to him but leave him alone. You’ve messed enough with him for the past year.”

“You don’t know anything,” Chanyeol almost snarled. “Just let me talk to him.”

“Baekhyun obviously doesn’t want to talk to anyone right now,” Jongin intervened, holding Chanyeol back still. “Just give him some time. He’ll come out when he’s ready.”

“You don’t get it Jongin,” Chanyeol shook his head. “I need to see him. I need to talk to him. I need to make him understand.”

“Understand what?” Kyungsoo scoffed. He held a lot of anger towards Chanyeol and not for what the other alpha has done to him but what he had done to Baekhyun. “Understand that he’s nothing but your little shameful human?”

“Shut the fuck up Do,” Chanyeol seethed. “You know nothing about our relationship.”

“Of course I don’t,” Kyungsoo responded sarcastically. “Because you kept it a secret from everyone because you couldn’t handle being associated with a human. You’re fucking weak Chanyeol. You don’t deserve to have anything to do with Baekhyun.”

“Shut up Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol threatened, surging towards the omega.

“Touch him and I’ll cut off your balls,” Baekhyun’s voice called out from the edge of the room. Jongin let go of Chanyeol who scrambled towards the human dropped on his knees, wrapping his arms around Baekhyun’s waist. Baekhyun tried pushing Chanyeol away but the alpha held on tightly, burying his head into Baekhyun’s stomach.

“Don’t do this Baek,” he begged. “Don’t push me away. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry Baek. Just stop running from me. I won’t run away anymore either. I promise I won’t.”

“How am I supposed to believe in you?” Baekhyun questioned, voice breaking. “You’ve already broken so many promises. I don’t know how to believe in you anymore. Just go fuck your pretty, rich omegas and leave me alone.”

“I fucking promise you Baek, this time is going to be different,” Chanyeol said hoarsely. “I don’t want any omegas. I just want you. I want you and I don’t care what the world thinks.”

“I don’t know, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun whimpered. “I don’t know what to do anymore.”

“I’ll prove it to you,” Chanyeol said, looking up to catch Baekhyun’s teary gaze. He let go of Baekhyun’s waist for a few moments to whip out his phone. Thirty seconds later, Jongin’s phone dinged, a SNS notification popping up. He opened it up and was surprised to see that Chanyeol had posted a picture. It was a soft picture of Baekhyun curled into Chanyeol’s bare chest, the alpha pressing a tender kiss against the sleeping human’s forehead. _Lover_ , the caption read simply. Baekhyun was tagged in the picture. Chanyeol had also changed his status to _In a Relationship_. Jongin quickly liked both posts and Kyungsoo stood with his mouth opened. Chanyeol had really just made it official.

“His parents are going to be furious,” Jongin chuckled in disbelief. “But if this is what he really wants, he’s going for it.”

“Baekhyun won’t make it easy for him,” Kyungsoo shook his head. “I won’t either.”

“He has to prove himself still,” Jongin agreed, pulling Kyungsoo into his embrace. “But I think he can do it. I know Chanyeol, and he’s a stubborn idiot but he has a big heart when it comes to the people he loves.”

“Nobody ever thought that top alpha Park Chanyeol would’ve fallen for a human,” Kyungsoo smiled at the thought. Chanyeol had somehow managed to coax Baekhyun down onto the floor with him and the two were holding each other, Chanyeol squeezing the human tightly. Baekhyun still looked hesitant but his hands were running through the alpha’s dark hair gently.

“Maybe we should give them some private time,” Jongin nodded towards his bedroom door. “You can help me pack?” The car picking them up was coming early in the morning.

“You are such a procrastinator,” Kyungsoo chuckled. He had a gut feeling that he was always going to end up helping Jongin pack for trips.

 

“Your brother _is_ scary,” Jongin said as he sat on Kyungsoo’s memory foam bed and slung his tie over his neck. The alpha had been fascinated with the Do mansion when he first arrived and Kyungsoo had given him a small tour of the place that had lasted almost an hour. Everyone had been busy getting ready for the dinner party later that night so they hadn’t run into any of Kyungsoo’s family members, just the staff who had given the two quite a few odd stares. It wouldn’t be long until Seungsoo and his parents found out he had brought an alpha home and Kyungsoo was dreading the encounter.

Of course Seungsoo had stomped into the sunroom an hour later where Kyungsoo and Jongin had been hanging out and almost had a complete meltdown until Yina had swooped in and saved the day with her sweet words and gentle touches along Seungsoo’s back. She had managed to drag the alpha back into preparing for the dinner party but not without one last ‘ _we are definitely talking about this later’_ look towards both Kyungsoo and Jongin.

“I would say that he’s harmless but I can’t quite promise that,” Kyungsoo told his boyfriend as he inserted his cufflinks and finished straightening out his shirt.

“You wouldn’t let him hurt me, right?” Jongin asked, looking at Kyungsoo with wide eyes.

“I thought you said that you could take him?” Kyungsoo teasingly reminded the alpha. “He is a few inches shorter than you.”

“Kyuuuungsooooo,” Jongin whined playfully as he fell back onto the omega’s comfy bed. “Tell me that you’ll protect me.” Kyungsoo turned around in his chair in front of his vanity and rolled his eyes at his silly boyfriend.

“Of course I’ll protect you. I jumped in front of Chanyeol to protect Sehun. I’ll definitely jump in front of Seungsoo if he comes after you too,” Kyungsoo told him. He had not been excited to come back home and face the judgmental stares of his extended family but bringing Jongin along had been one of the best things he had ever done. His alpha boyfriend had made his childhood home a lot brighter and definitely less lonely. He actually had someone to talk to and play around with and Jongin’s presence deterred any snide and rude behavior from the staff.

Kyungsoo glanced at Jongin again and found the alpha playing with his phone. He turned back and stared at the mirror on his vanity and let out a deep sigh. For the first time since he got home, he really stared at himself in the mirror. The scratch that Chanyeol gave him had faded and left no scar, his right cheek just as smooth and pale as the day he was born. The left side of his face however, was just as scarred as it had always been. Kyungsoo lifted his hand to touch it and watched as his fingers ran over the raised, pink bumps. Then he glanced at the foundation and concealer sitting on the tabletop. Two weeks ago he had begged Kibum to teach him how to cover up his scars. Kibum had taught him some stuff and although it didn’t completely cover his scars, it did make them a little less noticeable. Kyungsoo didn’t really like wearing the makeup. He found it itchy against his sensitive skin but he didn’t want his face to ruin Seungsoo and Yina’s happy day. He couldn’t let himself be a verbal punching bag again. He grabbed the liquid foundation and opened the cap but then Jongin’s arms were caging around him.

“Stop Kyungsoo,” Jongin said gently, nosing into Kyungsoo’s cheek. “You don’t need to wear that.” Kyungsoo set it down and stared at Jongin’s blue eyes through the mirror.

“You’re beautiful without it,” Jongin continued to praise him, kissing his cheek.

“But-” the omega started to protest.

“No buts,” Jongin shook his head, “just beauty.” He kissed Kyungsoo’s mouth lightly before nudging their noses together.

“You’re too good for me,” Kyungsoo whispered, cupping Jongin’s cheek affectionately. He had no idea how someone as wonderful as Jongin had walked into his life but he was glad he had taken that chance.

“You’re perfect for me,” Jongin smiled back. “Now help me with my tie. I must impress your brother and parents.”

 

“Seungsoo, this is my boyfriend, Kim Jongin,” Kyungsoo hesitantly introduced later at the dinner party. Everyone was mingling in the foyer and formal living room for appetizers before being directed into the formal dining room for dinner. Seungsoo had a glass of red wine in one hand and the other hand was occupied by Yina’s. If not for those two things, Seungsoo probably would have found some way to grab Jongin’s collar.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Jongin said politely, bowing at the older alpha. “I’m very honored to be a guest at your wedding.”

“I don’t recall inviting you,” Seungsoo scowled.

“Oh be nice Seungsoo,” Yina smacked his arm. “I invited Jongin so that Kyungsoo wouldn’t be lonely and he seems like a very nice boy. Your brother has better taste than I do.”

“Hey,” Seungsoo whined, turning his body towards Yina’s.

“It’s you I’m marrying in two days babe,” she patted his cheek affectionately. “Don’t forget that.”

“Wow he’s really whipped,” Jongin whispered to Kyungsoo.

“It’s so weird,” Kyungsoo sighed. “But it’s good for him.”

“So how long have you two been together?” Seungsoo asked, taking a sip from his glass and cringing at the word _together_.

“A little over a month,” Jongin answered.

“You’re a Kim,” Seungsoo stated, narrowing his eyes a bit. “I know alphas like you. How can I be sure that this isn’t a game for you? Kyungsoo isn’t a conventional wolf. He isn’t like everyone else. He doesn’t fit into the status quo. How do I know that you aren’t going to hurt him?”

“Because I’ve been doing everything for him that you should’ve done a long time ago,” Jongin answered confidently, pulling Kyungsoo closer to him. “I’ll take care of him just fine. It’s you who should be worried about hurting him.” Seungsoo looked taken a back at Jongin’s direct words and Kyungsoo began to worry again. Alphas didn’t like being challenged.

“He’s bold!” Yina laughed in glee. “I like him Seungsoo. I can’t wait to go on double dates and get to know each other more.”

“I got my eye on you kid,” Seungsoo refuted back. The engaged couple was then distracted by Yina’s parents who had just walked in through the door and Kyungsoo pulled Jongin aside.

“I told you I could take him,” Jongin said haughtily with a smug smile on his face.

“Thank you Jongin,” Kyungsoo said, getting on his tiptoes to kiss the alpha’s mouth quickly.

“I feel like I can handle your parents now,” Jongin said, bouncing with energy, “I’m on a fucking roll. Where’s your mom? Let me show her how precious and cherished you should be.” Kyungsoo’s gaze wandered around the room and he found his mother sitting on the nice tea sofa and chatting with her group of friends, probably lamenting over how her precious alpha son was marrying a nobody.

“I don’t really want to see her right now,” Kyungsoo sighed. Jongin sensed his boyfriend’s change in mood and calmed himself down.

“Another obstacle to deal with another day?” he asked.

“She hasn’t looked for me once since we’ve gotten here,” Kyungsoo said, trying to fight the pout off his face. “My dad at least texted me this afternoon and asked if I got home safely.”

“Speaking of dad,” Jongin said cautiously, “I think that’s him coming over right now. I take it back Kyungsoo. I don’t think I’m ready to face him. He looks more intimidating than Seungsoo.” Kyungsoo turned around and saw his dad suavely making his way through the room, greeting guests who greeted him first. His dad was just as tall and sturdy as Seungsoo. They even shared the same face, except that dad now had more defined wrinkles lining his face and his hair was starting to gray a little.

“Kyungsoo,” the elder Do greeted the omega firmly with a nod of his head. Kyungsoo quickly bowed his head down and Jongin followed. “It’s been running around the house that you brought an alpha home and I’m surprised to see that the rumors are true,” he eyed Jongin.

“Kim Jongin from the Kim Clan in Seoul,” Jongin reached out his hand for a shake. “I’ve been dating Kyungsoo for a little over a month now.”

“Just a month and you’re ready to meet the family?” Kyungsoo’s father asked, gripping Jongin’s hand and shaking it.

“Well it’s better sooner than later, sir,” Jongin replied.

“You didn’t tell me you were bringing someone home,” he turned to Kyungsoo this time.

“It was a last minute decision,” Kyungsoo responded nervously, his eyes flickering towards Jongin. The alpha sent an encouraging smile his way.

“Are you taking care of him in Seoul?” Kyungsoo’s father asked Jongin, an eyebrow quirking up.

“As much as he’s taking care of me, sir,” Jongin nodded.

“That’s good to hear,” the older man nodded. “Thank you for taking care of Kyungsoo.”

“It would be nice,” Jongin started out, slowly making eye contact with him, “if you could help me take care of him too. Kyungsoo is special to me and I hope that he’s just as special to you.” The elder Do’s eyes widened at Jongin’s request and he turned to look at Kyungsoo who looked awestruck too. Yina was right. Jongin really was bold but he didn’t look one bit ashamed about it at all.

“He is,” Kyungsoo’s father said, looking at his younger son with a mixture of fondness and regret. “Kyungsoo is very special to me and I’ll make sure he knows it from now on.”

“I look forward to spending the next three days with your family,” Jongin nodded his head.

“It was very nice meeting you,” Kyungsoo’s father agreed. “It would be nice if you two could join us at the head table later this evening.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo said quietly in disbelief. He had been expecting to be cast off to one of the side tables away from his mother.

“I would like for nothing more,” his father confirmed. “I’ll see you two during dinner then.” He gave them one last warm smile and then was off to greet the rest of the guests.

 

“You are a miracle worker,” Kyungsoo said later that night when the two of them were snuggled up in bed together. Kyungsoo’s king sized bed was a lot bigger than Jongin’s full or Kyungsoo’s twin back at on campus but they were still curled up into each other as close as possible.

“What do you mean?” Jongin yawned tiredly. He had just taken a nice, hot shower in Kyungsoo’s private bathroom and he was ready for bed.

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo said, pressing his lips against Jongin’s cheek. “For what you said to Seungsoo and my dad.”

“It’s something that should’ve been said a long time ago,” Jongin turned so that his cheek was replaced with his mouth and their lips were touching lightly against each other now. “You deserved so much more growing up Kyungsoo. They really have no excuses but that’s something on their conscious they have to deal with. I just want them to start giving you everything you deserve. Love, attention, you deserve all of it. I’ll give you all of it but they should too.”

“You’re enough,” Kyungsoo said quietly, taking in Jongin’s heavy gaze. “It’s only been a month but I’ve been the happiest in my entire life. Sometimes, I’m afraid that it’s not real. That I’ll wake up and you’ll tell me it was all a joke but until that day happens, I’m going to hold onto this. I’m going to believe in this.”

“Believe in it Kyungsoo,” Jongin smiled at him. “This is all real.”

“Can I tell you something?” Kyungsoo asked, voice small all of a sudden.

“What?” Jongin hummed, squeezing Kyungsoo against him. The omega hid his face in Jongin’s throat and intertwined their fingers together.

“I love you,” he said, squeezing Jongin’s hand nervously. He waited for a response and his heartbeat quickened in anticipation.

“You love me?” Jongin asked. Kyungsoo could hear the stupid grin in his boyfriend’s voice and he nodded, face flushing as he played with Jongin’s fingers. Jongin suddenly flipped them over so that Kyungsoo was flat on his back and the alpha was hovering over him.

“I love you too,” Jongin smiled down at him.

“Kiss me then,” Kyungsoo pursed his lips together cutely. Jongin chuckled and leaned down to kiss Kyungsoo’s perfect mouth, his fingers entangling in the omega’s dark hair. Kyungsoo’s arms circled around Jongin’s neck and he sighed contently as their mouths molded against each other.

“Did you ever get to be a rebellious teenager?” Jongin asked suddenly, breaking away from their kiss.

“What do you mean?” Kyungsoo asked breathlessly.

“Let’s sneak out of here,” Jongin chuckled. “Let’s go on a run.”

“Jongin the last time I snuck out, my dad chased me down and bit my neck,” Kyungsoo remembered. He had learned his lesson back then.

“We won’t get caught,” Jongin said, already getting out of bed and sliding a pair of sweats over his shorts. “And even if we do, we’re adults now. What are they gonna do? Drag us back by our scruffs?”

“Seungsoo might,” Kyungsoo said.

“Let’s do this,” Jongin said, leaning back towards Kyungsoo and stealing a quick kiss. “It’ll be fun.”

“We already showered,” Kyungsoo tried one more time.

“We can shower again,” Jongin shook his head giddily.

“Okay you giant puppy,” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, getting out of his bed too. “This is all your idea though.”

“I take full responsibility of it and of you,” Jongin winked, tossing Kyungsoo a pair of sweats.

In the cover of the darkness, Kyungsoo and Jongin stripped quickly and shifted into their wolves. Jongin was a spectacular white, nearly blending in with the snow. His stunning blue eyes were even more remarkable compared to the pure white background. He was a strong, broad wolf, his alpha status physically visible in his wolf form. Kyungsoo shook out his milk chocolate fur and his limbs, not used to being on four instead of two. He was smaller than Jongin, the alpha wolf trodding over to him and rubbing the flank of his neck with his nose. Kyungsoo nuzzled him back and then Jongin licked his nose and he squeaked, taking a step back and falling into the snow. Jongin laughed and helped him back up and then they were up on the trail and running through the woods. They ran up the trail towards a small cliff that overlooked all of the Do’s property. Kyungsoo’s paws were slippery, not used to going over rough terrain and snow, and every time he fell, Jongin was there to nose him back up and help him up the rocks.

By the time they reached the top of the cliffs, the omega was completely out of breath, not used to the physical exertion but Jongin seemed to be on a runner’s high, prancing around the snow around Kyungsoo. The omega flopped down near the edge and Jongin fell on top of him, covering him with his large body and playfully biting at his ear. Kyungsoo let Jongin nip at him and he closed his eyes, enjoying the brisk air and Jongin’s weight against him.

‘ _Its so beautiful_ ,’ Jongin sighed, starting to lick at Kyungsoo’s fur. Kyungsoo looked up and saw the sky full of silver stars and a half moon. The moon looked so clear and Kyungsoo wanted to howl at it, but that would wake up the whole mansion.

‘ _So this is what being a rebellious teenager feels like?_ ‘He teased Jongin, turning his head and licking a stripe up the alpha’s face.

‘ _I had my moments,’_ Jongin laughed. ‘ _But I never did anything super dangerous or stupid. I couldn’t break my mom’s heart like that.’_

 _‘This feels nice_ ,’ Kyungsoo wriggled against Jongin. ‘ _We should do this again.’_

‘ _Next full moon, I’ll show you a good time,’_ Jongin agreed. ‘ _Everything is heightened during the full moon.’_

 _‘I can’t thank you enough, Jongin,’_ Kyungsoo hummed rubbing his cheek against Jongin’s. ‘ _You’ve really changed my life. I really love you so much.’_

 _‘Then stay with me for a long, long time,’_ Jongin said. They let a silence fall upon them as they comfortably settled down. Kyungsoo was lightly licking around Jongin’s snout, showering the alpha in affection. The omega was mesmerized by how ethereal Jongin looked in white. He had grown up with a family of darkly colored wolves and white wolves were said to be super rare. It was why Jongin’s family was held with such esteem.

‘ _We must have at least one pup with fur as white as yours,’_ Kyungsoo found himself blurting out of nowhere. Jongin looked down at him with a teasing glint in his eyes.

‘ _Thinking about pups already my little love?’_ He leaned against Kyungsoo. _‘I thought I told you that I want pups with your chocolate fur and my blue eyes. They’ll be the prettiest pups in the family.’_

 _‘I want one who looks like you but maybe he’ll have my brown eyes. He’ll be pretty too,’_ Kyungsoo thought _._ Just the image of a little litter of brown pups and one white pup made his heart swell.

 _‘They’ll all be pretty,’_ Jongin agreed. _‘Because you’ll be their daddy and you’re the prettiest of them all.’_

 


	2. Bonus One

 

_“…We ask for your presence immediately so that further disciplinary actions can be discussed.”_

The voicemail repeats in Jongin’s head as he speeds down the expressway, his heart pounding uncomfortably in his chest. He’s never gotten a message like this before, never expected to get a message like this and he’s not sure how to react or what to do next. All he knows is that he has to get there and he has to get there fast.

He catches the school zone sign in the corner of his eye and slows down his speed, letting his car smoothly drift into the small neighborhood and then into the parking lot. Seatbelt is unbuckled and then he’s walking into the building, almost flying through the colorful walls and small handrails and into the central office. There’s a human lady sitting at the front desk and she nearly flinches when she sees him but composes herself quickly.

“Kim Jongin,” he introduces himself. “I got a call from the principal.”

“Oh yes,” she realizes, getting out from behind her desk and showing him the way to the principal’s office. “Mr. Lee stepped out for just a moment but Jaeyoung is still in there.” Jongin nods and the lady steps back to give him a moment of privacy. Jongin peeks in through the slim glass window and sees a small figure, hunched over and looking even tinier. His dark brown hair is falling over his eyes and his little fists are bunched up tightly. The sight makes Jongin’s heart ache and he opens the door. Jaeyoung flinches at the sound of the knob turning and he turns to look at the door, his soft blue eyes making contact with Jongin’s.

“Dad?” he asks, his voice catching in his throat. He looks so scared and all Jongin wants to do is take his little boy away from this place.

“Hey, buddy,” Jongin says, walking towards him and sitting in the empty chair next to him. He takes Jaeyoung’s hand in his and squeezes it comfortingly. Before he can get another word in, the door opens again and in walks Mr. Lee, looking every bit as intimidating as a principal can be.

“Mrs. Cho told me that you arrived,” Mr. Lee says, taking a seat at the desk and switching gazes from Jongin’s face to Jaeyoung’s. “I’m glad that you could make it on such short notice.”

“I just finished a meeting,” Jongin says, reaching out to shake Mr. Lee’s hand. “The call was quite worrisome so I came as fast as I could.” Jaeyoung is avoiding eye contact with everyone, his little head tucked down again.

“Well there’s no point in dodging the conversation so we’ll just have to jump right into it,” Mr. Lee starts, “but like I mentioned in the voicemail, Jaeyoung got into a fight today with another student. An omega student to be more exact.” Jongin’s eyes widen at this. It’s new information to him that the other student had been an omega. First of all, it’s entirely unlikely for Jaeyoung to get into a fight with anyone but for him to hit an omega was just completely out of character.

“It was reported by peers that during outdoor science today, Jaeyoung and the omega were arguing and then Jaeyoung pushed the omega in the chest hard enough for the omega to fall on the gravel and scratch up their palms. The school nurse also reported that the omega had a bruise where he had been pushed,” Mr. Lee continues reading off a report. Jaeyoung seems to have grown even smaller besides Jongin. “We take our no violence and no bullying policy very seriously here Mr. Kim. It’s the reason why our integrated school is so successful.” Jongin nods in understanding. He and Kyungsoo and chosen this school because it was an integrated school. Wolf and human children studied together without distinction or discrimination and the learning environment was very positive and encouraging.

“But we also know that Jaeyoung is usually a very well behaved boy and that this type of behavior is very unexpected from him,” Mr. Lee continues. “We are sure that Jaeyoung would not lash out without some type of prompting or uncomfortable confrontation but both he and the omega student have refused to tell us what happened leading up to the fight. If we do not have a complete understanding of what happened, all we can conclude is that the omega student was the one physically hurt and that Jaeyoung is at fault for that.”

Jongin turns to Jaeyoung and tries to look him the eye.

“Do you want to tell us what happened?” he asks softly, not trying to scare the boy even more. Jaeyoung shakes his head and Jongin lets out a sigh.

“Jaeyoung, did you really push your classmate?” Jongin asks instead. Jaeyoung nods.

“The omega student has already left for home,” Mr. Lee says. “His parents did not want a confrontation with you and only asked that Jaeyoung be properly punished. I have talked to Jaeyoung’s class teacher and science teacher and we have decided that a two-day suspension from school is sufficient. Any future incidents though will require more severe consequences.”

“That’s fair,” Jongin agrees. He thinks he’s way too calm for just learning that his kid got into a fight today but he’s still trying to wrap his mind around everything. It’s just so unlike Jaeyoung. Even as a baby he never bit or pinched anyone.

“If you’d like to take him out for the rest of the day, that is fine too,” Mr. Lee says. Jongin looks down at his watch. There are still three hours left in the school day and he technically still has four hours left of work but they can survive without him for one day.

“I’d like to take my other kids home for the day too,” Jongin says.

“We’ll call down to their classrooms and get them ready,” Mr. Lee responds. Jongin nods and thanks him for his time.

He and Jaeyoung wait at the front entrance of the school. Jaeyoung is all bundled up in a blue windbreaker, his backpack snugly fitted on his back. He hasn’t said a word since they left the office but Jongin doesn’t want to press him.

“Dad!” A small chorus of voices fills the hallway as his other children approach them. Jongin bends down to his knees and opens his arms wide just in time for three tiny bodies to collide into him. He kisses three blonde heads and makes sure their jackets are all zipped up and that their backpacks are closed.

“Why are we going home early today?” Jaehwan asks, bouncing on the heels of his sneakers.

“Yeah,” Jina chirps. “It was my turn to play with the playdough but then Ms. Park told me that I had to get ready because you were here.”

“You can play with the playdough at home, sweetheart,” he ruffles her hair. “We’re just having a short day today,” he explains to them, not wanting Jaeyoung to feel guilty or bad. “I’m getting off work early too. We can go bother daddy at home.” He had already texted his secretary telling her that he was going home and Kyungsoo was now waiting for them, knowing some of the details of what happened.

“Do you think daddy made us cookies?” Jisook asks, her big brown eyes twinkling at Jongin.

“I don’t think he did,” Jongin tells her, “but you guys can make cookies with daddy when we get home.” The three of them cheer in excitement but Jaeyoung stays quiet by himself.

Jongin’s three blondes chat during the entire ride home, telling him all about their day and speaking so fast that the dad struggles to keep up with what they’re saying. It doesn’t help that they talk over each other and expect him to listen to each of them but he tries his best to please all of them. He doesn’t know how Kyungsoo is able to calm down all four of them and pay attention to them and make each of them feel special. But Kyungsoo is super daddy and everyone in the family knows that.

Jongin pulls into their driveway and then it’s a race to slam the car door and get into the house first to greet Kyungsoo. Jaeyoung trails behind and Jongin waits for him. Jaeyoung is normally the quiet one of the bunch but even this is too much.

Kyungsoo greets them by the door, his arms full with a bunch of colorful coats and backpacks.

“I told them there were popsicles in the freezer and they decided that was more important than my hug or kiss,” Kyungsoo pouts. Jongin chuckles before leaning in and giving Kyungsoo a quick kiss.

“How about my good boy?” Kyungsoo bends down for Jaeyoung. The six year old promptly ignores Kyungsoo though and side steps his way into the house, dropping his coat and backpack on the floor too before high tailing his way up the stairs and into his shared room with Jaehwan. Kyungsoo frowns again and Jongin pulls him up by the elbow and wraps an arm around his waist.

“Did he tell you what happened?” Kyungsoo asks, concerned eyes darting towards the second level.

“He didn’t,” Jongin shook his head. “I can’t get a peep out of him.”

“I’ll stay home with him for the two days,” Kyungsoo says with a sigh. “Maybe he just needs some _me_ time.”

“I was actually thinking of taking him out today,” Jongin says. “I feel like we could have a nice alpha to alpha talk about not hitting people and maybe I can get to the bottom of the situation.”

“It’s just so not him,” Kyungsoo looks very upset. “I would expect that from maybe Jaehwan and Jina but not Jaeyoung.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Jongin rubs Kyungsoo’s waist comfortingly, “I’ll get it out of him.”

Jongin and Kyungsoo walk into the kitchen where their three little blondes are spinning around on the kitchen stools, mouths stained different colors with their popsicles. They’re full of giggles as they poke and play around with each other and Jongin just loves this image.

It was rare these days for omegas to carry multiple pups during one pregnancy but Jongin and Kyungsoo had been miraculously blessed with a set of quadruplets. It had been surprising that three of them had turned out alphas and one was an omega. It was even more surprising that three of them were blonde and one was dark brown. Jaehwan and Jina were textbook Kim clan alphas. They had silky blonde hair and icy blue eyes and an aura and charisma that could charm almost anyone. Jaeyoung had been the alpha pup that Jongin dreamed of having, a little chocolate thing like Kyungsoo but with blue eyes like him. He was quiet like Kyungsoo but had a calming charm of his own and made friends easily. Jisook was their only omega. She also had the standard blonde Kim hair but her eyes were brown like Kyungsoo’s. While Jaehwan and Jina were their more rowdy kids, Jaeyoung and Jisook were softer and quieter. Put all four of them together though and there was never a dull moment in their household.

“Daddy, can we play with the playdough?” Jina asks, chewing on her empty popsicle stick.

“Only if we remember the rules,” Kyungsoo says, already getting out their plastic play mats and setting them out on the dining table.

“We can only play at the table and no mixing the colors!” Jaehwan shouts out, hopping off his stool and running to the table.

“I didn’t mix them last time!” Jina says as she also races to grab her spot at the table. Kyungsoo laughs at their enthusiasm as he grabs their tub of playdough and molding toys from the top of their crafts cabinet.

“Dad, up!” Jisook demands, setting her popsicle stick down on the counter and raising her arms up for him. Jongin picks her up and cuddles her closely. She is definitely his little princess and he still likes to baby her. He would baby all his children if he could but his alpha kids already think they’re too cool to be coddled by him.

“Are you going to play with your siblings?” Jongin asks her. Jaehwan and Jina have already decided that they’re opening an Italian restaurant and Kyungsoo is helping them screw on the correct attachment to make the playdough turn into long strings.

“Yeah,” Jisook nods. “But I just want to hug you for a bit!”

“Aww,” Jongin melts, nuzzling his head into her hair. “My princess is the sweetest.”

“Is Jaeyoung going to play with us too?” Jisook asks. “He looked sad in the car.”

“He is a little sad,” Jongin nods with a frown. “So I’m going to take him out for a bit to cheer him up. Then we’ll be back and help daddy and you guys make dinner.”

“Jaeyoung gets a special day with you?” Jisook pouts, kicking her leg against him lightly.

“You’ll all get a special day with me,” Jongin promises her with a kiss to the head. He brings her over to the table and sets her down.

“Jisook, you make the pizza!” Jina says, handing her over a ball of yellow playdough and a roller. The omega seems to forget all about Jongin and immediately starts to work, babbling to her siblings about what else they’re serving at their pasta restaurant.

“I’m going to grab Jaeyoung and head out,” Jongin says, pulling Kyungsoo to the side.

“Where are you guys going?” Kyungsoo asks, leaning his head against Jongin. The alpha caresses his waist a bit.

“Probably to the park. We’ll play ball for a bit and I’ll try to get him to talk,” Jongin muffles into Kyungsoo’s hair.

“Don’t push him too hard,” Kyungsoo tells him. “And don’t get angry at him if he doesn’t want to tell you. If it doesn’t work then I’ll go over it with him tomorrow when it’s a new day.”

“Okay,” Jongin nods, giving Kyungsoo’s cheek a kiss. “We’ll be back before dinner.” Kyungsoo kisses him back and lets Jongin go upstairs to check on Jaeyoung.

He’s on his bed, underneath his covers, looking like a little lump and Jongin slowly approaches him, tapping the lump lightly. There’s a rustle but no answer. Jongin sighs and stares at the walls of his boys’ room. It’s blue, Jaehwan and Jaeyoung share the same favorite color, and Kyungsoo had lovingly decorated it with an airplane theme. The dresser in between the two boys’ beds has a picture of them together, their cheeks pressed impossibly close and the smiles on their faces are so wide. Jaehwan and Jaeyoung can be as different as night and day but they’re absolutely best friends.

“I know there’s someone in there,” Jongin says, tapping on Jaeyoung’s lump again. This seems to do the trick and Jaeyoung slowly reveals himself, a stoic look on his small face.

“We’re going to the park to play ball,” Jongin tells him, not giving him the option to say no. The father stands up and searches for Jaeyoung’s catching mitt and a baseball. Jaeyoung is just staring at him, face devoid of all emotions and Jongin sighs.

“Come on, buddy. It’s just going to be me and you.” Jaeyoung slowly gets up and they walk down the stairs. Jongin makes sure that they quietly escape without drawing any attention from the other three kids.

It’s a ten-minute walk to the park and Jongin finds himself whistling as he holds Jaeyoung’s hand. They don’t talk, even when they find an empty spot on the grass secluded from everyone else. Jongin hands over Jaeyoung’s mitt and walks away a few yards and they begin to catch and throw. While Jaehwan is better with his feet, Jaeyoung is good with his hands. The older alpha likes ice hockey and soccer and Jaeyoung like baseball and tennis.

Jongin can both smell and feel how tense and angry Jaeyoung is as they pass the ball back and forth. His son’s throw becomes harder and faster and the focused look on his face never gives. They don’t miss a single catch and Jongin’s hand is actually starting to hurt because of how intense Jaeyoung is. His son smells like he’s about to crack too and Jongin has decided that this was enough. He catches the last pass easily and begins to walk towards his son.

“Take a break?” He asks. Jaeyoung doesn’t say anything but walks over to an empty bench and sits down. Jongin doesn’t sit next to him but instead kneels down in front of him, taking Jaeyoung’s shoulders into his hands.

“What happened?” Jongin asks him softly, meeting his eyes. “Why are you so upset today?” Jaeyoung’s lower lip wobbles and he looks down, twisting his feet together.

“You know you can tell me anything, right? Daddy and I just want to know what’s going on so we can help you better,” Jongin tells him.

“Are you really my dad?” Jaeyoung asks suddenly, his voice breaking halfway through. Jongin is stunned and confused at the question.

“What do you mean?” he asks back, blinking.

“They say that I don’t look like you,” Jaeyoung tells him quietly.

“That’s crazy talk,” Jongin says, choosing his words carefully. “You look just like me. We have the same eyes and the same nose and we even have the same ears,” Jongin affectionately pulls on Jaeyoung’s ear. “Baby, we even laugh the same.”

“But I don’t have blonde hair like you and Jaehwan and Jina and Jisook and the uncles,” Jaeyoung sniffles. “Everyone in the Kim clan has blonde hair but me. Kino told me that I wasn’t really part of the Kim clan and that you’re not my real dad.”

“Kino can stuff his mouth,” Jongin says angrily. “You are part of the Kim clan just like your brother and sisters are. Your hair color means nothing, Jaeyoung. It only makes you even more special because you carry a part of your daddy with you too. You look like both me and like daddy and Uncle Seungsoo and Grandpa Do. You’re one of the most precious things to all of us.” Jongin hadn’t foreseen Jaeyoung’s hair color ever becoming an issue in his life. Yes, if Jaeyoung had been an only child and popped out with brown hair, people would have talked and called Kyungsoo unfaithful but he had been born along with three blonde pups and blue eyes. There was no doubt that he was Jongin’s son.

“Was that why you pushed Kino today?” Jongin asks. “Is it because he told you that you weren’t my son?”

“No,” Jaeyoung shook his head.

“What else happened then?” Jongin asks him. Jaeyoung looks like he doesn’t want to talk again and Jongin rubs his shoulder gently to encourage him.

“He was saying mean things about daddy,” Jaeyoung finally says, tears squeezing at the corners of his eyes. “So I pushed him because I was really angry.” Jongin can feel the anger in him flare up too but he holds it in.

“What did he say?” he asks, trying to stay calm.

“I don’t want to say it,” Jaeyoung says, shaking his head frantically. “They were really mean.”

“You won’t get in trouble for telling me,” Jongin tells him.

“Well, when he said that you weren’t my real dad, he called daddy a hussie,” Jaeyoung sniffs. “And I don’t know what that means but I know it’s not a nice word but he said that daddy wasn’t loyal to you and he loved a different alpha and that alpha is my real dad and not you.” Jaeyoung sounds super distraught and Jongin pulls him into his arms to comfort him.

“It’s a bad word that little boys like you definitely shouldn’t know,” Jongin tells him. “And you are definitely my son and the only alpha that your daddy has ever loved is me. Daddy loves me so much and I love him so much and we both love you and your brother and sisters so much.”

“And he also-he also-” Jaeyoung hiccups.

“He did what?” Jongin asks.

“He called daddy _ugly_ ,” Jaeyoung whispers the last word like it physically hurts him to say. It hurts Jongin too, that people are still so mean and rude to Kyungsoo after all these years but he can’t lose his calm in front of Jaeyoung.

“He said that daddy is the ugliest omega and that his face is messed up,” Jaeyoung tells him, little tears rolling down his face now. “But I think daddy is the prettiest in the entire world and I don’t understand why he thinks that. Daddy is so nice and his laugh makes me feel warm and his singing is really good and he always cooks us really yummy food. He gives out the best hugs and he never yells at us when we fight and he lets us bake cookies every weekend and when I can’t sleep at night, he stays with me and rubs my back until I can. And daddy has the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen and I’m only six years old but I don’t think I’ll ever see a smile that more beautiful than daddy’s. Daddy is so pretty. I think even his scar is pretty because that’s how I know that he’s _my_ daddy. I don’t like it when people are mean to daddy and Kino kept on calling him ugly and a hussie and I just got really angry so I pushed him.”

Jongin doesn’t know what to say so he just hold Jaeyoung, who’s beginning to wipe his tears on Jongin’s shirt. The boy is still sniffling so Jongin hugs him even tighter and rubs his back.

“And it’s not just Kino who is mean about daddy,” he cries. “Even when daddy takes us out, people talk about him and stare at him. Like last weekend when we went to the supermarket, there were these two old ladies next to us when daddy was picking out apples and they were talking about daddy and saying stuff like ‘how could he ever find someone to have kids with, with a face like that’ and they were talking about daddy’s scar right in front of us. Jaehwan got super mad and he went over and called them old and wrinkly and smelly. Then daddy had to apologize to them and I hated it so much. I hated the mean smiles on their face and I hated that daddy had to say sorry to those people.”

“I hate those people too,” Jongin agrees, feeling a bitterness settle in his chest. Kyungsoo hadn’t told him about this incident so that was another thing to confront him about later tonight.

“I know it was wrong for me to push Kino but I was just really upset and I did it without thinking,” Jaeyoung says.

“It’s okay,” Jongin nods, “I think Kino is mean and sometimes you have to be mean back to mean people.”

“I think Jaehwan would have hit him hard if he was there with me,” Jaeyoung says. Jongin actually agrees. He wouldn’t put it past Jaehwan to actually start swinging fists.

“Next time though, just ignore mean people like that,” Jongin tells him. “You walk away and come tell me later and I will deal with it.”

“I can’t wait till I’m bigger,” Jaeyoung sniffles.

“Why?” Jongin asks.

“So I can protect daddy from all the mean people in the world,” he answers. “I’ll just glare at them like how Uncle Seungsoo and Uncle Baekhyun do and they’ll leave daddy alone.”

“Daddy was kind of sad today, because you didn’t give him his hug and kiss,” Jongin says.

“Can we go home so I can do that right now?” Jaeyoung asks, looking guilty.

“Yeah,” Jongin nods. “Let’s go home to daddy.”

 

“Three down, one to go,” Jongin whispers as he slides into bed next to Kyungsoo later that night. Jaeyoung is curled up against Kyungsoo, his eyes fluttering shut as Kyungsoo rubs his back soothingly. The blondes had been a little upset when they found out Jaeyoung was staying home with Kyungsoo for two days and Jongin and Kyungsoo made it up to them by letting them fall asleep in their bed. Jongin had just finished putting Jina back in her own bed for the night. Jaehwan and Jisook had fallen asleep earlier. Kyungsoo kisses Jaeyoung’s head softly and rests his head against him, smelling his strawberry scented hair.

“If he’s suspended from school, am I supposed to make him do extra homework or something?” Kyungsoo asks. “It doesn’t seem right if I just let him watch movies and play with him all day.”

“Let him play,” Jongin says, leaning over and kissing Jaeyoung’s cheek. “He’s a good boy.” A few minutes later, Jaeyoung is lightly snoring and Kyungsoo hands him over to Jongin. The alpha goes to tuck him into his bed and checks on Jaehwan and the girls one last time before returning to Kyungsoo. He opens his arms and lets Kyungsoo fall into them comfortably.

“He was in a good mood when you guys came home,” Kyungsoo says. “He hasn’t been that clingy with me in a while so I’m guessing you got through to him.” Dinner had been too hectic with the four kids for Kyungsoo and Jongin to talk about what happened and then it had been time for homework and bath time and bedtime snuggles.

“The omega kid was being a dick,” Jongin scoffs. Kyungsoo looks taken aback by Jongin’s language and he punches his husband’s chest lightly.

“What?” Jongin asks. “He was. I’m blaming his parents too, for still raising a child up with that mindset. They better pray they never come into contact with us because I don’t think I’ll be able to hold my mouth back about their kid.”

“What happened?” Kyungsoo yawned, settling his head on Jongin’s chest. Jongin tightens his hold on him. He loves Kyungsoo so much and he always wants to protect him from all the cruel things in the world.

“The kid was telling Jaeyoung that he wasn’t my real son or part of the Kim clan because he doesn’t have blonde hair like the rest of us,” Jongin says first. Kyungsoo frowns, visibly upset.

“But he is,” Kyungsoo says softly. “No one has ever doubted his lineage before and there has never been a reason to doubt it.”

“Of course there isn’t,” Jongin snorts. “I’m the only one who has cuddled your ass.” He sneaks his hand down and squeezes Kyungsoo’s butt playfully, earning a surprised yelp from the omega.

“Yes you are,” Kyungsoo hums, relaxing back against Jongin. “So that’s why he pushed him?”

“Well not exactly,” Jongin sighs, threading his fingers through Kyungsoo’s hair. The omega loves it when he soothes him like this.

“What else happened?” Kyungsoo asks.

“You know that our boys really love you, right?” Jongin says instead. “The girls too.”

“Of course I know,” Kyungsoo nods.

“Well the kid he was-he was saying stuff about you and Jaeyoung got really mad and pushed him,” Jongin says. Kyungsoo is silent and Jongin cuddles him closer, rubbing his shoulders and pressing soft kisses against his head.

“What type of stuff?” Kyungsoo asks silently. Jongin knows when Kyungsoo goes into insecure shut down mode and right now is one about to be one of those moments.

“Does it really matter-”

“I want to know, Jongin,” Kyungsoo cuts him off. “What did he say about me to Jaeyoung?”

“He called you a hussie,” Jongin says quietly, his voice growing cold just thinking about it. “Implied that since he thought Jaeyoung wasn’t my kid, that you slept around and had a bastard child.”

“Is that it?” Kyungsoo asks. He’s still in Jongin’s arms now.

“He told Jaeyoung that you were the u word,” Jongin tells him.

“Ugly,” the word rolls off Kyungsoo’s tongue too easily and Jongin winces.

“You’re not,” Jongin pulls him closer.

“But it’s true-”

“You finish that sentence and I’m going to sleep with the boys tonight,” Jongin warns. Kyungsoo grows quiet again and Jongin sighs.

“You are the most beautiful person I have ever met, Kyungsoo,” Jongin tells him. “I know it’s still hard to get over your past sometimes but please, don’t ever doubt how wonderful you are. I am so lucky to have you. I thank the universe every single day for giving me you and our four little pups. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I didn’t want to make the kid’s life hard,” Kyungsoo says sadly.

“You don’t,” Jongin tells him. “They love you _so_ much, Kyungsoo. They would do anything to protect you and make you happy. It’s the other people that are in the wrong. They’re insensitive, and rude, and don’t know how to mind their own business. Jaeyoung told me about what happened at the supermarket last weekend.”

“He did?” Kyungsoo asks worriedly, his eyes growing wide.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jongin knocks his head lightly against Kyungsoo’s.

“Because it was stupid,” Kyungsoo says. “I felt stupid. Those ladies work for one of my mom’s friends and I just didn’t want them going around saying that my kids are bad, even though they probably already are talking behind my back.”

“I hate your mom and her friends,” Jongin huffs out annoyed. He loved Kyungsoo’s dad and Seungsoo’s family. They were absolutely great and their relationships with Kyungsoo had improved immensely. Seungsoo was still overly protective of Kyungsoo and Mr. Do visited them often, bringing treats for the kids and just sitting and talking to Kyungsoo. However, Kyungsoo’s mom had never really come around to appreciate Kyungsoo again. She had even left their wedding early, claiming she had a headache and she was in none of their beautiful wedding photos or family photos. She hadn’t been there to help Kyungsoo through out his pregnancy and wasn’t in the delivery room to hold his hand when he was in labor. Jongin is pretty sure that she doesn’t even know which boy is Jaehwan and which one is Jaeyoung even though they have different colored hair. He’s gotten into heated arguments with her before too but still nothing has changed. Kyungsoo has long since accepted that his mother would never actually be a mother figure in his life.

“I love your mom though,” Kyungsoo closes his eyes and smiles. Jongin hums at that. Where Kyungsoo’s mom was majorly lacking, Jongin’s mom made up for it. They had both been nervous at first when it was time to introduce Kyungsoo to the Kim clan. It had been awkward for a while and many people had questioned Jongin’s decision but then they started warming up to Kyungsoo and now he was undeniably family. Jongin’s mother especially adored Kyungsoo and pampered and spoiled him like crazy. Kyungsoo was always the one she ran to first when she visited, not even sparing a glance at her adorable grandchildren until she made sure her son-in-law received her special attention.

“She loves you too,” Jongin chuckles, “Maybe a bit too much. A lot of people love you, Kyungsoo. We love you just the way you are.”

“I love you guys too,” Kyungsoo tells him, leaning up to kiss his chin.

“I’ve told you before and I’ll keep on telling you, but don’t listen to those people,” Jongin reminds him. “They’ve already made up their minds before they’ve even met you and there’s no use in socializing with them. Besides, that means there’s more of you for me,” he tugs Kyungsoo’s body closer to him.

“I really do try not to pay attention,” Kyungsoo turns around and sits in his lap so they’re facing each other. “I’ve gotten a lot better than since we first met. Most of the time I don’t even think about my scar or feel insecure about it but sometimes it just creeps up and I feel sad again.”

“Let me know when you feel sad,” Jongin frowns, leaning his forehead against Kyungsoo’s. “I’ll chase all the sadness away and replace it with love.”

“You’re so good to me,” Kyungsoo whispers breathlessly.

“Because you deserve it,” Jongin grins back before pressing his mouth against Kyungsoo’s for a chaste kiss. His hands cup gently around Kyungsoo’s face and softly thumb Kyungsoo’s scar. It holds many painful memories but Jongin will never think of it as ugly. Scar or no scar, Kyungsoo has given Jongin the most precious moments of his life and to him, that will always be the most beautiful no matter what.


End file.
